Angelica sinensis polysaccharide ameliorate colitis via modulating gut microbiota

The roots of Angelica sinensis have been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine for thousands of years. However, tons of aerial parts of this herb are commonly discarded during the process of root preparations. For a better utilization of this plant resource, polysaccharides in the aboveground parts of A. sinensis were obtained and studied as a bioactive polymer with potential protections on intestinal diseases. A polysaccharide was isolated and preliminarily characterized as a kind of typical plant pectin. Furthermore, ASP-Ag-AP exhibited obvious protective effects against dextran sodium sulfate DSS indued colitis, including restored colitis symptoms, alleviated colonic inflammation, adjusted barrier functions, altered intestinal microbiota and serum metabolite profile.