Intestinal histological score.

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a severe intestinal disease of the newborn infants, associated with high morbidity and mortality. It has been reported that Bifidobacterium could protect the intestinal barrier function and reduce the risk of NEC. This study aimed to evaluate the probiotic potential of Bifidobacterium strains isolated from the chicken intestines and its effect on necrotizing enterocolitis in newborn SD rats. Out of 32 isolates, B. breve AHC3 not only exhibited excellent probiotic potential, including tolerance to artificial simulated gastric conditions, adhesion to HT-29 cells, antioxidant capacity and antibacterial activity, but also possessed reliable safety. Additionally, NEC model was established to further investigate the effect of B. breve AHC3 on necrotizing enterocolitis in newborn SD rats. It was illustrated that administration of B. breve AHC3 significantly not only reduced the incidence of NEC (from 81.25% to 34.38%) (P< 0.05), but also alleviated the severity of ileal injury (P< 0.05). Compared with NEC model, B. breve AHC3 could significantly decrease the level of proinflammatory factor TNF-α (P< 0.05) and increase the level of antiinflammatory factor IL-10 (P< 0.05) in the ileum of NEC rats. Through the intervention of B. breve AHC3, the gray value of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in intestinal tissue of NEC rats was significantly reduced (P< 0.05). It was indicated that B. breve AHC3 exhibited prominent probiotic potential and reliable safety. In the neonatal SD rat model of NEC, B. breve AHC3 had an available protective effect on the intestinal injury of NEC, which might be related to reducing the inflammatory reaction in the ileum and inhibiting the expression of iNOS in intestinal tissue cells. B. breve AHC3 could be used as a potential treatment for human NEC.

坏死性小肠结肠炎（Necrotizing enterocolitis, NEC）是一种发生于新生儿的重症肠道疾病，伴随极高的发病率与死亡率。已有研究报道，双歧杆菌（Bifidobacterium）可维护肠道屏障功能并降低NEC的发病风险。本研究旨在评估从鸡肠道中分离得到的双歧杆菌菌株的益生菌潜力，及其对新生SD大鼠坏死性小肠结肠炎的干预效果。从32株分离菌株中筛选得到的短双歧杆菌（B. breve）AHC3，不仅展现出优异的益生菌特性，包括耐人工模拟胃液环境、对HT-29细胞的黏附能力、抗氧化活性与抗菌性能，同时具备可靠的安全性。此外，本研究构建了NEC动物模型，以进一步探究短双歧杆菌AHC3对新生SD大鼠坏死性小肠结肠炎的作用效果。研究结果显示，灌胃短双歧杆菌AHC3可显著降低NEC的发病率（从81.25%降至34.38%，P<0.05），同时可减轻回肠损伤程度（P<0.05）。与NEC模型组相比，短双歧杆菌AHC3干预可显著降低NEC大鼠回肠组织中促炎因子TNF-α的水平（P<0.05），并提升抗炎因子IL-10的含量（P<0.05）。通过短双歧杆菌AHC3的干预，NEC大鼠肠道组织中诱导型一氧化氮合酶（iNOS）的灰度值显著降低（P<0.05）。以上结果表明，短双歧杆菌AHC3具备突出的益生菌潜力与可靠的安全性。在新生SD大鼠NEC模型中，短双歧杆菌AHC3对NEC相关肠道损伤具有显著保护作用，其机制可能与抑制回肠炎症反应、下调肠道组织细胞中iNOS的表达相关。短双歧杆菌AHC3有望成为治疗人类NEC的潜在候选方案。