Mangiferin attenuates the symptoms of dextran sulfate sodium-induced colitis in mice via NF-κB and MAPK signaling inactivation

Oat β-glucan ameliorates dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced ulcerative colitis in mice

Ulcerative colitis is a major inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), characterized by inflammation within the gastrointestinal tract through chronic or relapsing immune system activation. The aim of this study is to investigate the potential protective effect of oat β-glucan (βG) against colitis induced by DSS in mice. Eighty mice were randomly divided into the control group (no DSS, no βG), DSS group (DSS only), DSS + L-βG group (DSS plus 500 mg per kg βG), and DSS + H-βG group (DSS plus 1000 mg per kg βG). Compared with the DSS group, administration of βG significantly reduced clinical symptoms with less weight loss, diarrhea and shortening of the colon, the severity of colitis was significantly inhibited as evidenced by the reduced disease activity index (DAI) and degree of histological damage in colon. Moreover, treatment with βG not only decreased myeloperoxidase activity (MPO), and nitric oxide (NO) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, but also inhibited mRNA and protein expression of pro-inflammatory factors such as TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 and iNOS. This suggests that oat βG in diet might exhibit an anti-inflammatory function against colitis through inhibition of expression of pro-inflammatory factors.

Increased Eotaxin and MCP-1 Levels in Serum from Individuals with Periodontitis and in Human Gingival Fibroblasts Exposed to Pro-Inflammatory Cytokines

Periodontitis is a chronic inflammatory disease of tooth supporting tissues resulting in periodontal tissue destruction, which may ultimately lead to tooth loss. The disease is characterized by continuous leukocyte infiltration, likely mediated by local chemokine production but the pathogenic mechanisms are not fully elucidated. There are no reliable serologic biomarkers for the diagnosis of periodontitis, which is today based solely on the degree of local tissue destruction, and there is no available biological treatment tool. Prompted by the increasing interest in periodontitis and systemic inflammatory mediators we mapped serum cytokine and chemokine levels from periodontitis subjects and healthy controls. We used multivariate partial least squares (PLS) modeling and identified monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and eotaxin as clearly associated with periodontitis along with C-reactive protein (CRP), years of smoking and age, whereas the number of remaining teeth was associated with being healthy. Moreover, body mass index correlated significantly with serum MCP-1 and CRP, but not with eotaxin. We detected higher MCP-1 protein levels in inflamed gingival connective tissue compared to healthy but the eotaxin levels were undetectable. Primary human gingival fibroblasts displayed strongly increased expression of MCP-1 and eotaxin mRNA and protein when challenged with tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α and interleukin-1β (IL-1β), key mediators of periodontal inflammation. We also demonstrated that the upregulated chemokine expression was dependent on the NF-κΒ pathway. In summary, we identify higher levels of CRP, eotaxin and MCP-1 in serum of periodontitis patients. This, together with our finding that both CRP and MCP-1 correlates with BMI points towards an increased systemic inflammatory load in patients with periodontitis and high BMI. Targeting eotaxin and MCP-1 in periodontitis may result in reduced leukocyte infiltration and inflammation in periodontitis and maybe prevent tooth loss.

Mangiferin Mitigates Gastric Ulcer in Ischemia/ Reperfused Rats: Involvement of PPAR-γ, NF-κB and Nrf2/HO-1 Signaling Pathways

Mangiferin (MF), a xanthonoid from Mangifera indica, has been proved to have antisecretory and antioxidant gastroprotective effects against different gastric ulcer models; however, its molecular mechanism has not been previously elucidated. Therefore, the aim of this study was to test its modulatory effect on several signaling pathways using the ischemia/reperfusion model for the first time. Animals were treated with MF, omeprazole (OMP), and the vehicle. The mechanistic studies revealed that MF mediated its gastroprotective effect partly via inducing the expression of Nrf2, HO-1 and PPAR-γ along with downregulating that of NF-κB. Surprisingly, the effect of MF, especially the high dose, exceeded that mediated by OMP except for Nrf2. The molecular results were reflected on the biomarkers measured, where the antioxidant effect of MF was manifested by increasing total antioxidant capacity and glutathione, besides normalizing malondialdehyde level. Additionally, MF decreased the I/R-induced nitric oxide elevation, an effect that was better than that of OMP. In the serum, MF, dose dependently, enhanced endothelial nitric oxide synthase, while reduced the inducible isoform. Regarding the anti-inflammatory effect of MF, it reduced serum level of IL-1β and sE-selectin, effects that were mirrored on the tissue level of myeloperoxidase, the neutrophil infiltration marker. In addition, MF possessed an antiapoptotic character evidenced by elevating Bcl-2 level and reducing that of caspase-3 in a dose related order. As a conclusion, the intimated gastroprotective mechanisms of MF are mediated, partially, by modulation of oxidative stress, inflammation and apoptosis possibly via the Nrf2/HO-1, PPAR-γ/NF-κB signaling pathways.

Oral administration of geraniol ameliorates acute experimental murine colitis by inhibiting pro-inflammatory cytokines and NF-κB signaling

Oral administration of geraniol ameliorates DSS-induced ulcerative colitis in mice.

Notoginsenoside R1 attenuates experimental inflammatory bowel disease via pregnane X receptor activation

Notoginsenoside R1 (R1) is the main bioactive component in Panax notoginseng, an old herb medicine widely used in Asian countries in the treatment of microcirculatory diseases. However, little is known about the effect of R1 on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The present study demonstrated that R1 alleviated the severity of dextran sulfate sodium-induced colitis in mice by decreasing the activity of myeloperoxidase, the production of cytokines, the expression of proinflammatory genes, and the phosphorylation of IκB kinase, IκBα, and p65 in the colon. Further studies indicated that R1 dose-dependently activated human/mouse pregnane X receptor (PXR), a known target for decreasing inflammation in IBD, and upregulated the expression of genes involved in xenobiotic metabolism in colorectal cells and the colon. Ligand pocket-filling mutant (S247W/C284W or S247W/C284W/S208W) of the human PXR abrogated the effect of R1 on PXR activation. Time-resolved fluorescence resonance energy transfer PXR competitive binding assay confirmed R1 (ligand) binding affinity. In addition, PXR overexpression inhibited nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB)-luciferase activity, which was potentiated by R1 treatment. PXR knockdown by small interfering RNA demonstrated the necessity of PXR in R1-induced upregulation of the expression of xenobiotic-metabolizing enzymes and downregulation of NF-κB activity. Finally, the anti-inflammatory effect of R1 was confirmed in trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid-induced colitis in mice. These findings suggest that R1 attenuates experimental IBD possibly via the activation of intestinal PXR signaling.