Macrophages treated with non-digestible polysaccharides reveal a transcriptionally unique phenotype

Dietary non-digestible polysaccharides (NDPs) might promote intestinal health via immuno-modulation. Immunomodulatory effects of NDP are most likely brought about by antigen processing cells such as macrophages that populate the intestine, although the mechanisms are still poorly understood. We validated the in vitro model of M1 and M2 macrophages to mimic the intestinal inflammatory and tolerant macrophages using literature and microarray-derived gene markers. All these markers were used to characterise the macrophage phenotype following NDP stimulation. This identified an alternative subset, termed M(NDP), which commonly modulated a set of 126 genes, involved in migration, metabolic processes, cell cycle, and inflammatory immune function. This gene-based analysis for macrophage subsets provides an additional tool to characterise NDP bioactivity for their in vivo potential.