Glucosylceramide
(GlcCer) is composed of a glucose moiety attached
to ceramides (Cer). GlcCer was reported to reduce the intestinal impairments in vivo and suppress in vitro intestinal
inflammation. In this study, to clarify the effect of GlcCer on intestinal
impairments in vivo, we compared the effects of shiitake
mushroom-derived GlcCer (fungal GlcCer) on the formation of aberrant
crypt foci (ACF) and colon inflammation with those of fungal Cer having
the same Cer moiety of the fungal GlcCer. Fungal GlcCer- or Cer-supplemented
diets significantly suppressed ACF formation in 1,2-dimethylhydrazine
(DMH)-treated mice. Dietary fungal GlcCer reduced the expression of
inflammation-related cytokines and apoptosis-related proteins induced
by DMH, whereas dietary fungal Cer hardly reduced their expression
upon intestinal injuries. Furthermore, when fungal GlcCer was ingested
to the mice, only a small amount of fungal Cer was detected in the
feces. These results indicate that the ingested fungal GlcCer might
be hardly metabolized to fungal Cer and the GlcCer itself might suppress
ACF formation in DMH-treated mice by suppressing intestinal inflammation.
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