Effects of long-term intake of anthocyanins from Lycium ruthenicum Murray on the organism health and gut microbiota in vivo.

The relationship between diet, especially polyphenols, and health has been receiving increasing attention. Polyphenols were degraded by gut microbiota into metabolites and acted on the body to exert many bioactivities from several targets such as antioxidative stress, anti-inflammation, intestinal barrier and gut microbiota modulation. After long-term treatment of mice with anthocyanins from Lycium ruthenicum Murray (ACN), antioxidant status in liver (T-AOC, T-SOD, CAT, GSH and GSH-Px were increased and AST, ALT, ALP and MDA were decreased), anti-inflammatory status in colon (the expression of mRNA of iNos, Cox-2, Tnf-α, Il-6, Il-1β and Ifn-γ were significantly reduced), intestinal barrier (the expression of mRNA of Zo-1, Occludin, Claudin-1 and Muc1 were significantly increased) and gut microbiota (Barnesiella, Alistipes, Eisenbergiella, Coprobacter and Odoribacter were proliferated) were all regulated in ACN group. Meanwhile, the content of short-chain fatty acids in cecal contents and feces were increased. Taken together, long-term intake of ACN could promote organism healthy and these results have important implications for the development of ACN as a functional food ingredient.