Abstract
We examined the dietary effects of cyclic nigerosylnigerose (CNN), a dietary indigestible oligosaccharide with four D-glucopyranosyl residues linked by alternating α-(1→3)- and α-(1→6) glucosidic linkages, on the intestinal immune function of mice, and the effects were compared with those of α-(1→3)-linked oligosaccharide (nigerooligosaccharides, NOS) or α-(1→6)-linked oligosaccharide (isomaltooligosaccharides, IMO). BALB/c mice were fed with 1–5% CNN, 5% IMO, or 12.5% NOS for 4 weeks, and the intestinal mucosal immune responses were determined. In the 1–5% CNN fed groups, the amounts of IgA in feces increased significantly. In addition, IgA, transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) secretion by Peyer’s patch (PP) cells were enhanced in CNN fed mice. In the 5% CNN group, pH in the cecum decreased, and the amounts of lactic acid and butyric acid increased. These findings were not observed in the NOS- or IMO-fed group of mice. They suggest that CNN supplementation changes the intestinal environment of microflora and indirectly enhances the immune function in the gut.
