ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microorganisms in Vertebrate Digestive Systems
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1597774
This article is part of the Research TopicThe Interaction Between Food Ingredients and Gut Microbiome on Health and DiseaseView all 27 articles
Ferulic acid and N-Feruloylserotonin ameliorate LPS-induced intestinal inflammation via modulation of gut microbiota, metabolome, and transcriptome
Provisionally accepted
- 1First People's Hospital of Wenling, Wenling, China
- 2Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, Hunan, China
- 3Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China
- 4Leshan Normal University, Leshan, Sichuan, China
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Intestinal homeostasis depends critically on the dynamic interplay between gut microbiota, epithelial barriers, and host immunity, dysregulation of this triad can initiate inflammatory cascades. Ferulic acid and its derivative N-feruloylserotonin demonstrate significant anti-inflammatory activity, though their intestinal protective effects and mechanisms require further elucidation. Therefore, this study examined how these compounds mitigate lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute inflammation through integrated modulation of the gut microbiome, serum metabolome, and transcriptional networks. Our findings reveal that both compounds, attenuated LPS-induced intestinal pathology in murine models, suppressed pro-inflammatory cytokine expression, elevated beneficial metabolites including 1-naphthalenesulfonic acid, enriched probiotic taxa (Ruminococcaceae, Muribaculaceae, Lachnospiraceae, Bifidobacteriaceae, Prevotellaceae, Roseburia, Blautia and Butyricicoccus), and suppressed pathobionts (Proteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, Enterobacterales and Bacillus). Transcriptomic profiling further implicated modulation of antigen processing and presentation, NF-κB signal pathway, MAPK signal pathway, and PI3K-Akt signal pathway. Key regulatory targets identified include: Pik3cd, H2-DMb1, H2-Oa, Kdr, Fgfr3, Il1r2, Rac, Irak4, Traf6, Ticam1, Rip1 and Rip3. This work establishes a mechanistic foundation for deploying ferulic acid and N-feruloylserotonin in intestinal health preservation and inflammatory disease prevention, while providing novel insights into microbiota-homeostasis crosstalk.
Keywords: PIK3CD, H2-DMb1, H2-Oa, Kdr, FGFR3, IL1R2, Rac, irak4
Received: 24 Mar 2025; Accepted: 03 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Hu, Han, Liu, Guan and Xia. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Gang Liu, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, 410128, Hunan, China
Chenmei Xia, First People's Hospital of Wenling, Wenling, China
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