Dextran sulfate sodium (dss)

All experimental animal procedures were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine (KIOM-21-081) and performed in accordance with their guidelines. Six-week-old male C57/BL6 mice were purchased from DooYeol Biotech (Seoul, Republic of Korea) and divided into nine groups: vehicle-treated control (n = 10), 5% DSS (n = 10), 5% DSS + 2′-FL Low (n = 10), 5% DSS + 2′-FL High (n = 10), 5% DSS + 3-FL Low (n = 10), 5% DSS + 3-FL High (n = 10), 5% DSS + FOS Low (n = 10), 5% DSS + FOS High (n = 10), and 5% DSS + 100 mg/kg 5-ASA (n = 10). DSS-induced colitis mice were established by feeding mice 5% (wt/vol) DSS (MP Biomedicals, molecular weight of 36,000–50,000) dissolved in drinking water for 5 days, followed by 3 days of DSS-free water drinking [9 (link)]. Starting from the first day of DSS challenge, 2′-FL, 3-FL, FOS or 5-ASA was orally administered at the indicated dose per day, and weight was measured daily before administration. After the end of the experiment and sacrifice, colon length was measured and photographed.

All procedures involving animals were approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine. Male Sprague–Dawley rats (weight, 180–220 g) were purchased from the SPF Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (Beijing, China; certificate no. SCXK-2016-0002). The rats were adapted for 1 week prior to the experiments and were randomly divided into three groups (n = 8 per group): control group, DSS group, and DSS+QCWZD group. Specifically, a total of 24 rats were raised, of which 4 rats shared a cage. For the DSS group and DSS+QCWZD group, all 16 rats were given drinking water containing 4.5% (w/v) DSS (MP Biomedicals, MW: 36,000–50,000) ad libitum for 7 days to induce colitis. But in order to minimize the impact of cage effect on gut microbiota, half of the rats in a cage were treated with 0.3 g/kg-body weight QCWZD via oral gavage once a day, and the other half in the same cage were treated with same volume of distilled water. For the control group, the rats received the same volume of distilled water via oral gavage once a day, along with drinking water. Then all rats were sacrificed on day 8 for further analysis.

Male C57BL/6 mice aged 6–8 weeks were maintained on a 12/12 h light/dark cycle with water and food ad libitum in the animal facility at the Federal University of Triângulo Mineiro (UFTM), Brazil. Mice were divided into groups of 6 animals each as follows: naïve animals (control group), healthy mice without intestinal inflammation treated with the highest concentration of T. lecticularia SGE (control + 30 μg), mice with intestinal inflammation induced by dextran sulfate sodium (DSS, MP Biomedicals, Illkirch, France; molecular weight: 36,000–50,000) treated with sterile saline as a vehicle (DSS + saline), and mice with intestinal inflammation treated with T. lecticularia SGE in three different concentrations (DSS + 3, 10, or 30 μg). For colitis induction, mice were exposed to 3% (w/v) DSS uninterruptedly in drinking water during 6 consecutive days. Treatment was performed by intraperitoneal (i.p.) route from the beginning of the exposure to DSS (day 0) until the day before euthanasia (day 5). Thus, each mouse was treated with T. lecticularia SGE in 0.1 ml sterile saline or saline only. All experimental procedures were reviewed and approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of UFTM (protocol number 371) and performed according to the criteria outlined by the Brazilian Society for Laboratory Animal Science (SBCAL).

Studies have shown that higher GML treatment (450 mg kg-1) ameliorates HFD-induced metabolic disorders, supported by prevented visceral fat deposition, improved hyperlipidemia, modulated hepatic lipid metabolism, and reduced serum proinflammatory cytokine, TNF-α. Additionally, all doses of GML attenuated circulating lipopolysaccharide load and insulin resistance (36 (link)). So we chose the concentration of 250 mg kg-1, 500 mg kg-1, 1,000 mg kg-1 gavage. The concentration is converted to a specific mass of 5 mgGML, 10 mgGML, 20 mgGML. The male mice were treated with 3.0% (w/v) DSS (molecular mass 36,000–50,000 Da; MP Biomedical, LLCz, Santa Ana, CA) via drinking water for 5 days in the DSS and DSS +GML groups, and on day 5, the water was removed and replaced with normal water. Normal mice were treated with normal water. Oral GML was started 7 days prior to the DSS once every two days and continued until the end of the DSS. All groups of mice were gavaged at same time points. GML was purchased from Aladdin Reagent Co., LTD (shanghai, China). Mice in the Con group received sterile water at the same dose. In addition, all mice were weighed daily (at 15:00). After the model was completed, the mice were killed, samples were collected, intestinal tissue was collected for length measurement, spleens were weighed, and mouse sera and faeces were collected for subsequent analysis.