Mechanism of soluble dietary fiber from foxtail millet alleviating chronic colitis by reshaping intestinal fungi.

BACKGROUND: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a type of persistent chronic inflammation in the colon and can cause malignant transformation of colonic mucosa through various mechanisms. The dysbiosis of gut microbiota is closely related to the development and maintenance of IBD. Studies have shown that a proper intake of dietary fiber serves to maintain intestinal homeostasis by modulating commensal microbiomes. The present study aims to reveal the effect of soluble dietary fiber from foxtail millet bran (FMB-SDF) on chronic colitis and gut fungal community. RESULTS: C57BL/6J mice were orally given dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) water to construct a chronic colitis model and FMB-SDF was gavage administered to investigate its ameliorative effects on colitis. Our findings demonstrated that FMB-SDF alleviated chronic colitis symptoms including weight loss, colonic shortening and inflammatory infiltration as well as reshaping the fungal community diversity and overall structure. At the phylum level, FMB-SDF significantly modulates the relative abundances of Ascomycota, Basidiomycota and Malassezia. Furthermore, fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) confirmed that the relieved effects of FMB-SDF on colitis were microbiota-mediated, resulting in suppression of the expression of Ki-67 and enhanced intestinal barrier tight junction proteins ZO-1. CONCLUSION: Our results proved that FMB-SDF alleviated chronic colitis by regulating the commensal fungal community. The present study highlights that FMB-SDF may be a promising functional food and therapeutic candidate for colitis. © 2026 Society of Chemical Industry.