{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,11,12]],"date-time":"2026-11-12T12:26:21Z","timestamp":1794486381517,"version":"4.9.1"},"reference-count":47,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,9]],"date-time":"2025-02-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1739059200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["U22A20542"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["U22A20542"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Foods"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Fucoidan from Apostichopus japonicus (Aj-FUC) is a marine polysaccharide extracted from the high-quality sea cucumber, which has received increasing attention for its multiple biological activities. Methods: In this study, Aj-FUC was extracted, and its basic structure was characterized, while the alleviating efficacy of Aj-FUC on ulcerative colitis (UC) was investigated using C57BL\/6 mice. The improvement of Aj-FUC on the fecal gut microbiota in healthy individuals and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients was explored using in vitro simulated fecal fermentation. Results: The results reflected that Aj-FUC treatment attenuated the histopathological damage associated with colitis, reduced the levels of IL-6, IL-1\u03b2, and TNF-\u03b1. Aj-FUC treatment also upregulated the expression of ZO-1 and occludin, thereby aiding in the repair of the intestinal barrier. Furthermore, Aj-FUC enhanced the levels of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and helped restore the balance of gut microbiota, particularly by increasing the relative abundance of Akkermansia. In vitro simulation of fecal fermentation showed that Aj-FUC could modulate the gut microbiota of IBD patients and increase the relative abundance of beneficial bacteria. Conclusions: In conclusion, this study highlights that Aj-FUC can alleviate UC by modulating the levels of inflammatory factors, improving the intestinal barrier, and regulating the intestinal flora in a variety of ways.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/foods14040574","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,12]],"date-time":"2025-02-12T04:37:04Z","timestamp":1739335024000},"page":"574","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":11,"title":["Investigating the Alleviating Effect of Fucoidan from Apostichopus japonicus on Ulcerative Colitis by Mice Experiments and In Vitro Simulation of Human Fecal Fermentation"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Lingyan","family":"Xue","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Food Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266400, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yuchen","family":"Huan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Food Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266400, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8234-7272","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yaoguang","family":"Chang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Food Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266400, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yuming","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Food Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266400, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7073-9626","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Qingjuan","family":"Tang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Food Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266400, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"S97","DOI":"10.1038\/540S97a","article-title":"Inflammatory bowel disease","volume":"540","author":"Hodson","year":"2016","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Xia, Y.X., Zhang, L., Ocansey, D.K.W., Tu, Q., Mao, F., and Sheng, X.M. 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