Protective effects of β-glucan isolated from highland barley on ethanol-induced gastric damage in rats and its benefits to mice gut conditions.

Gastrointestinal tract disease is a global health problem which affects a major part of the world population. In this study, the gastroprotective effects of β-glucan isolated from highland barley on ethanol-induced gastric damage in rats and its benefits to mice gut health were investigated. Biochemical and pathological analysis methods were adopted to evaluating the gastrointestinal tract protective of β-glucan isolated from highland barley. In the ulceration model, it was found that β-glucan treatment could mitigate the gastric lesions and gastric mucosal damage caused by ethanol, decrease the gastric ulcer index. Furthermore, β-glucan treatment alleviated the gastric oxidative stress injury in vehicle rats through increasing the activity of superoxide dismutase and catalase, decreasing the level of malondialdehyde. In addition, β-glucan treatment also could decrease the level of interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor alpha and increased level of prostaglandin E2, nitric oxide. In the mouse gut health promoting model, β-glucan treatment increased the colon length, faces water contents and the concentration of total short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) both in mice colon and cecum. Taken together, these results may indicate that β-glucan isolated from highland barley exert protective effects on the gastrointestinal tract of laboratory rodents.