ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiomes
Sec. Nutrition, Metabolism and the Microbiome
Volume 4 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frmbi.2025.1589484
This article is part of the Research TopicThe Interaction Between Food Ingredients and Gut Microbiome on Health and DiseaseView all 17 articles
Dietary Codonopsis pilosula polysaccharides promote gut health and enhance immunity in Hu Sheep
Provisionally accepted
- Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, China
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In recent years, there has been a growing emphasis on the use of plant polysaccharides in animal husbandry, attracting attention for their distinctive benefits and roles. These natural and eco-friendly feed additives not only enhanced livestock performance but also promoted intestinal health and strengthen immunity. This study utilized 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing to investigate the effects of dietary Codonopsis pilosula polysaccharides on the gut microbiota of Hu sheep. Eighteen 3month-old Hu sheep with similar body weight (19.60±1.63 kg) and good body condition, were randomly allocated into three groups: a control group (CK) receiving a standard diet, and two trial groups: T1 (supplemented with 0.15% Codonopsis pilosula polysaccharides) and T2 (supplemented with 0.3% Codonopsis pilosula polysaccharides), with six animals in each group. The pre-trial period lasted for 7 days, followed by an experimental period of 90 days. Results demonstrated that incorporating Codonopsis pilosula polysaccharides into the diet markedly increased the acetic acid levels in the ileum. This incorporation was found to enhance the diversity of intestinal flora and influence the species composition and richness of the intestinal microbiota. LEfSe analysis revealed that the genus enriched in the three intestinal segments were primarily Candidatus_Saccharimonas, Christensenellaceae_R_7_group, Romboutsia, and UCG_005. The relative expression levels of Claudin, Occludin, and ZO-1 mRNA in the T1 group were found to be elevated compared to the CK and T2 groups across all three intestinal segments. In conclusion, these findings indicate that dietary supplementation with Codonopsis pilosula polysaccharides not only regulate the intestinal microbial composition of Hu sheep but also enhance their immune capacity by increasing the presence of specific beneficial bacteria, thus fostering the intestinal health of Hu sheep.
Keywords: codonopsis pilosula polysaccharides 1, Immunity 2, gut microbiota 3, sheep 4, practical production 5
Received: 07 Mar 2025; Accepted: 30 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhao, Li, Liu, Li and Ma. 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: Youji Ma, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, China
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