Preventive intervention with prebiotic resistant maltodextrin mitigates dextran sulfate sodium-induced colitis in female mice.

Ulcerative colitis (UC), an inflammatory bowel disease with a rising global prevalence, may be alleviated by short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) derived from dietary fiber fermentation. Additionally, preventive fiber intake, rather than therapeutic, reportedly attenuates clinical and inflammatory markers of experimental colitis. To investigate the effects of preventive intake of resistant maltodextrin (RMD), a soluble dietary fiber, on colitis, female C57BL/6 mice received 6% RMD for 28 days before dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) administration. RMD mitigated colitis, as evaluated by reducing disease activity index (DAI), body weight loss, colon shortening. It increased SCFAs, particularly butyrate, before DSS treatment, with butyrate showing a negative correlation trend with DAI and a positive correlation with colon length. RMD tended to increase Fusicatenibacter saccharivorans, known to decrease in active UC, after DSS treatment, which was negatively correlated with DAI. Taken together, preventive RMD intake may attenuate experimental colitis, possibly through increased butyrate and F. saccharivorans.