Table 3.

Summary of preclinical studies of prebiotics

Ref.	Model	Type of treatment	Composition	Dose	Parameters analyzed	Conclusion
Cui et al[57], 2021	DSS-induced colitis in C57BL/6J mice	Polysaccharide from Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi	Mannose, ribose, rhamnose, glucuronic acid, glucose, xylose, arabinose, fucose	50 and 200 mg/kg once daily for 10 d	Body weight, loose stools, morbidity, hematochezia, and the DAI	Effective (attenuated body weight loss, reduced DAI, ameliorated colonic pathological damage, and decreased MPO activity)
Tolonen et al[58], 2022	DSS-induced colitis in male C57Bl/6 mice	Synthetic glycans	FOS, GOS, XOS, pullulan, and lactulose	1% (v/v) glycans (days 7-14)	Weight loss, scores of diarrhea, endoscopy, and colonic histology	Synthetic glycans increase survival, reduce weight loss, and improve clinical scores in mouse models of colitis
Qian et al[59], 2022	DSS-induced colitis in male C57Bl/6 mice	GOS, FOS along with FMT	FMT alone or combined with various ratios of GOS, and FOS	-	DAI scores, histology, protein or mRNA expression levels of FFAR3 and ZO-1, a tight junction protein	Treatment with FMT plus a prebiotic blend restores thestructure of the intestinal flora and increased the levels of acetic acid, butyric acid, FFAR3, and ZO-1
Liu et al[60], 2016	DSS-induced colitis in male C57BL/6 mice	Alpha D-glucan from marine fungus Phoma herbarum YS4108	Glucopyranose	40 mg/kg/d once daily for 1 wk	DAI scores, histology immunohistochemistry analysis, evaluation of SOD and MDA activities, and determinations of inflammatory cytokines	Effective (significantly increased butyrate, isovaleric acid levels, and prominent alterations on specific microbiota)
He et al[61], 2020	DSS-induced colitis in male C57BL/6 mice	Stachyose	Stachyose	1.5 g/kg/d for 28 d	Inflammatory cytokines including IL-6, IL-10, IL-17a, and TNF-α	Increased beneficial microbiota and bacterial diversity to alleviate acute colitis in mice
Kanwal et al[62], 2019		Dictyophora indusiate polysaccharide	Glucose 59.84%, mannose 23.55%, and galactose 12.95%	Low dose 10 mg/kg and (high dose 33 mg/kg once daily for 2 wk	Assessment of DAI, histological, analysis of goblet cells and mucus layer thickness, cytokines	Effective
Li et al[63], 2020	Male C57BL/6 mice	FMG or dealcoholized muscadine wine	FMG: Fructose 34.7% glucose 31%, sucrose 9.9%. DMW: Fructose, sucrose, and glucose not detected	FMG (7%, w/w) or DMW (5.5%, v/ w) for 3 wk	Bodyweight, stool consistency and bleeding, DAI, short-chain fatty acids in feces, and Mucin 2 and IgA in feces	Effective (reduced dysbiosis in the colon)
K-da et al[64], 2020	Male C57BL/6 mice	GFO	Monosaccharide composition in the GFO was D-galactose	100, 500, or 1000 mg/kg once daily for 2 wk	GI transit time, ex vivo propulsive motility, in vitro colonic smooth muscle contractility, the composition of colonic microbiota, and production of SCFAs	Effective (prevented and attenuated colitis symptoms and GI dysmotility, reducing populations of harmful bacteria and increasing SCFAs)

DSS: Dextran sodium sulfate; DAI: Disease activity Index; MPO: Myeloperoxidase; FOS: Fructooligosaccharides; GOS: Galactooligosaccharides; XOS: Xylooligosaccharides; FMT: Fecal microbiota transplantation; ZO-1: Zona occludens; SOD: Superoxide dismutase; MDA: Malondialdehyde; SCFAs: Short-chain fatty acids; GI: Gastrointestinal; IL: Interleukin; TNF: Tumor necrosis factor; FMG: Freeze-dried muscadine grapes; DMW: Dealcoholized muscadine wine; FFAR3: Free fatty acid receptor 3; GFO: Gracilaria fisheri oligosaccharides.