Sulfated dietary fiber protects gut microbiota from antibiotics.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Antibiotics, while essential for combating pathogens, also disrupt commensal bacteria, leading to gut microbiota imbalance and associated diseases. However, strategies to mitigate such collateral damage remain largely underexplored.

Result

In this study, we found that fucoidan, a marine polysaccharide derived from brown seaweed, provides broad-spectrum growth protection against multiple classes of antibiotics for human gut microbial isolates in vitro and for fecal communities ex vivo. This protective effect is dependent on the structural integrity, molecular weight, and sulfur content of the polysaccharide. Transcriptomic analysis showed that while fucoidan had minimal impact on baseline gene expression, it counteracted about 60% of the genes induced by kanamycin,

SUBMITTER: Wu F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12329940 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature