The study aimed to analyze the global influences of dietary inulin with different degrees of polymerization (DP) on intestinal microbial communities. Six-week-old male C57BL/6J mice were treated with fructo-oligosaccharides and inulin for 6 weeks. Fecal samples were obtained at time point 0 and 6th week. 16S rRNA sequence analysis was used to measure intestinal microbiota performed on the Illumina MiSeq platform. Influences of dietary inulin on intestinal microbiota were more complex effects than bifidogenic effects, relative abundance of butyrate-producing bacteria increased after interventions. Akkermansia muciniphila, belonging to mucin-degrading species, became a dominant species in Verrucomicrobia phylum after treatment with fructo-oligosaccharides and inulin. Modulation effects of intestinal microbiota were positively correlated with DP. Lower DP interventions exhibited better effects than higher DP treatment on stimulation of probiotics. We hypothesized that Akkermansia muciniphila played an important role on maintaining balance between mucin and short chain fatty acids.

Gut microbiota have strong connections with health. Lactulose has been shown to regulate gut microbiota and benefit host health. In this study, the effect of short‐term (3 week) intervention of lactulose on gut microbiota was investigated. Gut microbiota were detected from mouse feces by 16S rRNA high‐throughput sequencing, and short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) were detected by gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry (GC‐MS). Lactulose intervention enhanced the α‐diversity of the gut microbiota; increased the abundance of hydrogen‐producing bacteria Prevotellaceae and Rikenellaceae, probiotics Bifidobacteriaceae and Lactobacillaceae, and mucin‐degrading bacteria Akkermansia and Helicobacter; decreased the abundance of harmful bacteria Desulfovibrionaceae and branched‐chain SCFAs (BCFAs). These results suggest that lactulose intervention effectively increased the diversity and improved the structure of the intestinal microbiota, which may be beneficial for host health.

Alginate oligosaccharide and its compound improved intestinal microecological disorder caused by azithromycin and maintained metabolic homeostasis in mice via the Bacteroides acidifaciens –FAHFAs and Bacteroides –TCA cycle axes.

Radiotherapy represents a crucial therapeutic modality in cancer treatment, yet its efficacy is frequently limited by radiation-induced toxicity. Growing evidence indicates that gut microbiota and their metabolites serve as key regulators of both radioprotective and radiosensitizing effects. This review systematically examines three fundamental regulatory mechanisms through which gut microbiota and its metabolites mitigate radiation-induced injury: (1) modulation of intestinal epithelial cell regeneration and tumor cell apoptosis via Wnt/β-catenin and PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathways; (2) immunomodulation via Toll-like receptor activation and NF-κB signaling; (3) oxidative stress management via Nrf2 signaling. We also evaluate various microbiota-targeted interventions, ranging from probiotics and prebiotics to fecal microbiota transplantation and emerging engineered microbial therapies, highlighting their potential in clinical radiotherapy. Finally, we emphasize current limitations and future research directions, underscoring the need to overcome existing challenges in microbiome analysis and therapeutic durability to fully realize the potential of precision radio-microbiome medicine, which may provide valuable references for developing personalized radiotherapy strategies based on gut microbiota and their metabolites.