Kyeong Jin Kim

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Bio:

Dr. Kyeong Jin Kim is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Food Science and Biotechnology at Seoul National University of Science and Technology, where she studies the biological activities of functional foods and bioactive compounds through cellular mechanisms, in vivo studies, and human intervention studies.

Abstract:

While Human Milk Oligosaccharides (HMOs), particularly 2'-Fucosyllactose (2'-FL), and postbiotics are increasingly recognized as gut-targeted functional ingredients, their roles in modulating intestinal injury and hepatic senescence-like phenotypes under colitic conditions have yet to be elucidated. In this study, mice were orally administered either 2'-FL or postbiotics over an 8-week period, with colitis induced by 2.5% dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) administered in the final week. Both interventions mitigated DSS-induced elevations in disease activity index and colon shortening, accompanied by reduced colonic levels of IL-1β and IL-6. Notably, 2'-FL exerted more prominent effects on intestinal motility and occludin expression. DSS administration elevated the hepatic p-S6K/S6K ratio and SA-β-gal–positive area, while both treatment groups exhibited trends toward attenuated hepatic SA-β-gal staining. These observations point to a possible link between amelioration of the intestinal inflammatory conditions and suppression of hepatic senescence-like responses, potentially mediated through gut–liver axis crosstalk. Taken together, these findings highlight 2'-FL and postbiotics as candidate gut-targeted functional ingredients capable of alleviating colitis-associated intestinal injury and inflammation through modulation of gut barrier function, with potential implications for hepatic senescence-like responses.