Tibetan kefir grain-fermented milk attenuates DSS-induced colitis through coordinated regulation of intestinal barrier function, inflammation, and gut microbiota

-cresyl sulfate, leucic acid, and phenyllactic acid. In LPS-challenged RAW264.7 macrophages, sterile filtered water-soluble extracts from Kefir-milk modulated polarization-associated marker expression and reduced pro-inflammatory cytokine responses at both transcript and protein levels. Collectively, these findings indicate that Kefir-milk attenuated DSS-induced colitis under the present experimental conditions and was associated with concurrent changes in barrier-related markers, gut microbiota, and the milk metabolome.