Hedysari Radix Praeparata Cum Melle repairs impaired intestinal barrier function and alleviates colitis-associated colorectal cancer via remodeling gut microbiota and metabolism

Hedysari Radix Praeparata Cum Melle (HR) has a potential to decrease the risk of chronic colorectal inflammation developing to colorectal cancer. Our study found that HR attenuated the pathological state, improved survival rate, diminished K-Ras, IL-1 beta, IL-6 and TNF-alpha levels, and increased the levels of the intestinal barrier function proteins including claudin-1, E-cadherin and mucin-2 in colitis-associated colorectal cancer (CAC) mice. Moreover, HR maintains intestinal flora homeostasis and fecal metabolic profiling through balancing the abundances of bacteroides prevotellaceae_UCG-001, staphylococcus, turicibacter, and rikenella to further regulates the galactose metabolism. The spearman correlation analysis showed that the intestinal barrier function proteins, gut microbiota and differential metabolism were significantly correlated with each other. This study confirmed a potential mechanism that HR alleviates CAC by diminishing symptoms and the inflammation, thereby improving the function of intestinal barrier and preserving intestinal flora homeostasis and fecal metabolic profiling.