Polysaccharide from the rhizome of Atractylodes macrocephala can significantly improve disordered intestinal flora. - GreenMedInfo Summary

An active polysaccharide from the rhizome of Atractylodes macrocephala Koidz (PAM) was identified to improve and adjust disordered intestinal flora. High-performance gel permeation chromatography (HPGPC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) were employed to identify the components of PAM as rhamnose, glucose, mannose, xylose, and galactose at a ratio of 0.03 : 0.25 : 0.15 : 0.41 : 0.15. PAM metabolized in gastrointestinal tract when incubated with artificial gastric and intestinal juices. Anaerobic incubation of PAM on intestinal flora confirmed that PAM promoted the ability of intestinal bacteria to digest reducing sugar. Based on theShannon index and similarity coefficient index of enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus-PCR (ERIC-PCR) fingerprinting of the total intestinal bacteria DNA, we concluded that PAM can significantly improve disordered intestinal flora and may be used as an oral adjuvant to regulate intestinalflora.