β-
Glucans have beneficial health effects due to their immune modulatory properties.
Oral administration of β-
glucans affects tumour growth, microbial
infection,
sepsis, and wound healing. We hypothesized that pre-treatment with orally delivered soluble and particulate β-
glucans could ameliorate the development of aggravate
dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) induced intestinal
inflammation. To study this, mice were orally pre-treated with β-
glucans for 14 days. We tested
curdlan (a particulate β-(1,3)-glucan),
glucan phosphate (a soluble β-(1,3)-glucan), and
zymosan (a particle made from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which contains around 55% β-
glucans).
Weight loss, colon weight, and feces score did not differ between β-
glucan and vehicle treated groups. However, histology scores indicated that β-
glucan-treated mice had increased
inflammation at a microscopic level suggesting that β-
glucan treatment worsened intestinal
inflammation. Furthermore,
curdlan and
zymosan treatment led to increased colonic levels of inflammatory
cytokines and
chemokines, compared to vehicle.
Glucan phosphate treatment did not significantly affect
cytokine and
chemokine levels. These data suggest that particulate and soluble β-
glucans differentially affect the intestinal immune responses. However, no significant differences in other clinical
colitis scores between soluble and particulate β-
glucans were found in this study. In summary, β-
glucans aggravate the course of
dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced intestinal
inflammation at the level of the mucosa.