Black tea, a widely consumed beverage, has garnered increasing attention for its potential anti-inflammatory and gut health regulatory properties.This study aimed to investigate the protective effect of black tea against dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced ulcerative colitis (UC) in mice and its underlying mechanism involving the modulation of gut microbiota.C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into a control group, a DSS-induced model group, a black tea treatment group [450 mg/(kg·d)], and a positive control mesalazine group [20 mg/(kg·d)].A chronic UC model was established using 2% (mass fraction) DSS solution, followed by the respective treatments.The results showed that, compared with the model group, black tea treatment significantly alleviated histopathological damage in colon tissue and inhibited the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α (P<0.05).Analysis of gut microbiota by 16S rRNA sequencing revealed that black tea treatment significantly restored microbial richness (Chao1 and ACE indices, P<0.05), reduced the relative abundance of harmful bacteria such as Proteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, Burkholderiales, Sutterellaceae, Parasutterella, Bacteroides acidifaciens, and Desulfovibrio (P<0.05), while increasing the abundance of beneficial bacteria such as Muribaculaceae and Blautia (P<0.05).Further functional prediction indicated that black tea treatment up-regulated beneficial metabolic pathways related to carbohydrate derivative synthesis and coenzyme regeneration, such as PWY-7315, PWY-6396, METH-ACETATE-PWY, and NAD-BIOSYNTHESIS-Ⅱ, while down-regulating harmful pathways associated with bacterial drug resistance and oxidative stress, such as P23-PWY, P461-PWY, HEMESYN2-PWY, and PWY-7377) (P<0.05).In conclusion, black tea effectively alleviated DSS-induced ulcerative colitis in mice, and its mechanism is closely related to multi-dimensionally remodeling of gut microbiota structure, restoration of microecological balance, and regulation of microbial functional metabolism, thereby synergistically exerting anti-inflammatory and intestinal mucosal protective effects.This study provides experimental evidence for black tea as a potential microecological modulator to assist in managing gut health.
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