Fig. 4: Mannose protects mice from DSS-induced ulcerative colitis.

a Seven-week-aged C57BL/6 mice were pre-treated for 2 weeks with or without 20% (w/v) mannose given in drinking water. At the end of the pre-treatment, 3% (w/v) DSS in drinking water was administered ad libitum over a 7-day period. During DSS administration, mice were treated with 200 µl of either water or 20% (w/v) mannose by oral gavage twice a day. Body weights were determined daily and compared to the weights at the start of DSS treatment for each mouse. b Effect of mannose on disease activity index measured daily in mice described in a during DSS treatment schedule. In a, b, *P < 0.05; ***P < 0.001 (two-tailed Student’s t-test) compared with mannose-untreated DSS-administered mice. c Colon length of mice described in a. In a–c data are presented as mean ± s.e.m. of at least n = 16 (DSS-treated) and n = 12 (DSS-untreated) mice pooled from two independent experiments. d Representative H&E-stained images, out of three independently acquired, of colon sections from the indicated groups of mice treated as in a at the end of DSS administration (scale bar 200 µm). e FACS-mediated analysis of CD11b⁺ immune cell types infiltrating colon lamina propria of DSS-administered mice in response to mannose treatment, as described in a, at the end of the experiment. Data are presented as mean ± s.e.m. of n = 13 (H₂O-treated) and n = 12 (mannose-treated) mice from two independent experiments. LC-MS-mediated analysis of lactate (f) and succinate (g) levels in CD11b⁺ cells isolated from colon lamina propria of mice treated as in a at the end of DSS administration. Data are presented as mean ± s.d. of n = 6 (DSS-treated) and n = 3 (DSS-untreated) mice. h qPCR analysis of IL-1β mRNA levels in CD11b⁺ cells isolated from colon lamina propria of mice treated as in a at the end of DSS administration. Data are presented as mean ± s.d. of n = 7 (DSS-challenged vehicle-treated), n = 8 (DSS-challenged mannose-treated) assessed in technical triplicate each and and n = 2 (DSS-untreated) mice assessed at least in technical duplicate each. In c, e–h, *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001 (two-tailed Student’s t-test). Source data are provided as a Source Data file.