Journal of agricultural and food chemistrySep 3, 2025

Sulfated Fucooligosaccharides Reduced Brain Inflammation in Aging Mice by Influencing the Gut–Brain Connection

Gut-Brain Axis Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Updated Jun 27, 2026

Abstract

Essence

Sulfated fucooligosaccharides may reduce neuroinflammation and cognitive decline in a D-galactose aging mouse model via gut-brain changes.

Evidence

An animal study treated D-galactose-induced aging mice with FOS and used fecal microbiota transplantation from FOS-treated mice to test similar effects.

Caveat

The results come from a mouse induced-aging model with mechanistic markers, not human aging or clinical neuroprotection.

Simplified

This study was aimed to reveal the neuroprotective effect of sulfated fucooligosaccharides (FOS) in an aging mouse model induced by d-galactose. The results showed that FOS treatment ameliorated inflammation, improved behavioral decline in memory and cognition, and exerted neuroprotective effects. FOS reduced microglia activation by decreasing the expression of P38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (P38 MAPK), cyclic-AMP response binding protein (CREB), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2). In addition, FOS improved intestinal mucosal barrier damage and reduced the release of lipopolysaccharide. FOS increased the diversity of the gut flora and promoted a significant enrichment of thegenus. FOS also increased the butyric acid level and reduced the expression of histone deacetylase 3 (HDAC3), Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), and nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB). Fecal microbiota transplantation from the FOS-treated mice showed a similar effect to FOS treatment in inhibiting neuroinflammation and reduced d-galactose-induced cognitive dysfunction. The results suggested that FOS supplementation ameliorated d-galactose-induced neuron damage and exerted neuroprotective effects through the gut-brain axis. Akkermansia