Abstract:Auricularia auricula-judae has a variety of medicinal value and healthy function, however, its roles in the regulation of intestinal microbes and the products of microbial metabolism are still unclear. In this study, the exopolysaccharides were extracted from the fermentation culture of Auricularia auricula-judae using alcohol precipitation method. Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FT-IR), high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), 16s rRNA gene sequencing analysis, gas chromatography and ELISA were used to detect the composition of exopolysaccharides and the changes of intestinal flora, short-chain fatty acid and cytokines in the mice treated with Auricularia auricula-judae exopolysaccharides. The results show that the exopolysaccharides from Auricularia auricula-judae fermentation are mainly composed of glucose and xylose. Auricularia auricula-judae exopolysaccharides significantly increase the levels of Bacteroides and Roseburia in intestine (P<0.05), and enhance the abundance of propionic acid (3.3 times vs the control group, P<0.01) and butyric acid (1.4 times vs the control group, P<0.05) in feces. Although the levels of cytokine TNF-α and IL-6 in the mice are not significantly affected by the Auricularia auricula-judae exopolysaccharides treatment (P>0.05), it promote the level of IL-10 in the serum (1.3 times vs the control group, P<0.01). In summary, our study indicates that Auricularia auricula-judae exopolysaccharides promote the abundance of probiotics in the mice intestine, and regulate the metabolism of short-chain fatty acids and the levels of cytokine.