Intestinal barrier dysfunction and gut microbiota disorders have been associated with various intestinal and extraintestinal diseases. Fermented wheat bran polysaccharides (FWBP) are promising natural products for enhancing the growth performance and antioxidant function of zebrafish. The present study was conducted, in order to investigate the effects of FWBP on the intestinal motility and barrier function of zebrafish, which could provide evidence for the further potential of using FWBP as a functional food ingredient in the consideration of gut health. In Experiment 1, the normal or loperamide hydrochloride-induced constipation zebrafish larvae were treated with three concentrations of FWBP (10, 20, 40 μg/mL). In Experiment 2, 180 one month-old healthy zebrafish were randomly divided into three groups (six replicates/group and 10 zebrafish/tank) and fed with a basal diet, 0.05% FWBP, or 0.10% FWBP for eight weeks. The results showed that FWBP treatment for 6 h can reduce the fluorescence intensity and alleviate constipation, thereby promoting the gastrointestinal motility of zebrafish. When compared with control group, zebrafish fed diets containing FWBP showed an increased villus height (p < 0.05), an up-regulated mRNA expression of the tight junction protein 1α, muc2.1, muc5.1, matrix metalloproteinases 9 and defensin1 (p < 0.05), an increased abundance of the phylum Firmicutes (p < 0.05), and a decreased abundance of the phylum Proteobacteria, family Aeromonadaceae, and genus Aeromonas (p < 0.05). In addition, 0.05% FWBP supplementation up-regulated the intestinal mRNA expression of IL-10 and Occludin1 (p < 0.05), enhanced the Shannon and Chao1 indexes (p < 0.05), and increased the abundance of Bacteroidota and Actinobacteriota at the phylum level (p < 0.05). Additionally, 0.1% FWBP supplementation significantly improved the villus height to crypt depth ratio (p < 0.05) and increased the mRNA expression of IL-17 (p < 0.05). These findings reveal that FWBP can promote the intestinal motility and enhance the intestinal barrier function, thus improving the intestinal health of zebrafish.

This study aims to evaluate the protective effects of feruloyl oligosaccharides from fermented wheat bran (FOs-FWB) against oxidative stress in IPEC-J2 cells in vitro and in a zebrafish model in vivo. Results showed that FOs-FWB effectively reduces reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde (MDA) content in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated IPEC-J2 cells while elevating glutathione (GSH) content and superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activities. The real-time PCR data illustrated that FOs-FWB upregulated the mRNA expression levels of glutamate-cysteine ligase catalytic subunit (GCLC), glutamate-cysteine ligase modifier subunit (GCLM), NAD (P) H: quinone oxidoreductase-1 (NQO-1), and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1). In the model of AAPH-stimulated zebrafish embryos, we observed that FOs-FWB suppressed cell death, ROS generation, and lipid peroxidation, along with improvements in SOD, CAT, and GSH-Px activities. Therefore, FOs-FWB exerted protective effects against oxidative stress in IPEC-J2 cells and zebrafish.

This study aimed to investigate the regulatory effects of dietary dandelion supplementation on the ruminal physiological status of lambs fed a high-concentrate diet. Twenty-two 6-month-old female crossbred lambs with an initial body weight of 32.05 ± 0.43 kg were randomly assigned to two groups (n = 11 per group): the HC group (fed a high-concentrate basal diet) and the DD group (basal diet supplemented with 2 g/kg dandelion powder), with a 14-day adaptation and 60-day experimental period. The results showed that compared with the HC group, dandelion supplementation significantly improved lamb growth performance and modulated ruminal fermentation parameters and tissue morphology. For inflammatory indices, the concentration of interleukin-10 (IL-10) was significantly increased, while the concentrations of interleukin-1β (IL-1β), lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and histamine (HIS) were significantly decreased (p < 0.05). Meanwhile, dandelion supplementation upregulated the mRNA expression of ruminal epithelial tight junction proteins and hexokinase II (HK-II), while downregulating the mRNA expression of myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88), voltage-dependent anion channel 1 (VDAC1), inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor (IP3R), NLR family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3), and caspase-1. Metagenomic analysis revealed that dandelion supplementation did not alter ruminal microbial α-diversity, but slightly modulated community composition and functional profiles. The abundances of dominant phyla Bacteroidota and Bacillota showed only slight fluctuations, while fiber-degrading genera (Xylanibacter, Quinella, Selenomonas) showed a trend toward enrichment, and proteolytic taxa were decreased. CAZyme analysis revealed an upward trend in families CE4, CE8, GH32, and GH13_46 (pectin/starch degradation) and a downward trend in GH73, GH27, and GT14 (oligosaccharide/peptidoglycan/polysaccharide metabolism) in the DD group. KEGG orthology annotation suggested that nominal KO differences were mainly associated with carbohydrate metabolism pathways, including starch and sucrose metabolism and peptidoglycan biosynthesis. None of these features, however, remained significant after FDR correction (raw p < 0.05; all q > 0.05). Collectively, dietary dandelion supplementation was associated with alterations in ruminal physiological status and microbial community in lambs fed a high-concentrate diet, providing foundational data for dandelion application in lamb diets under short-term feeding conditions.