The antiinflammatory and antifibrotic effect of olive phenols and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum IMC513 in dextran sodium sulfate-induced chronic colitis

Phytochemical Compounds as Promising Therapeutics for Intestinal Fibrosis in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Critical Review

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE

Intestinal fibrosis, a prominent consequence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), presents considerable difficulty owing to the absence of licensed antifibrotic therapies. This review assesses the therapeutic potential of phytochemicals as alternate methods for controlling intestinal fibrosis. Phytochemicals, bioactive molecules originating from plants, exhibit potential antifibrotic, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant activities, targeting pathways associated with inflammation and fibrosis. Compounds such as Asperuloside, Berberine, and olive phenols have demonstrated potential in preclinical models by regulating critical signaling pathways, including TGF-β/Smad and NFκB, which are integral to advancing fibrosis.

RESULTS

The main findings suggest that these phytochemicals significantly reduce fibrotic markers, collagen deposition, and inflammation in various experimental models of IBD. These phytochemicals may function as supplementary medicines to standard treatments, perhaps enhancing patient outcomes while mitigating the adverse effects of prolonged immunosuppressive usage. Nonetheless, additional clinical trials are necessary to validate their safety, effectiveness, and bioavailability in human subjects.

CONCLUSIONS

Therefore, investigating phytochemicals may lead to crucial advances in the formulation of innovative treatment approaches for fibrosis associated with IBD, offering a promising avenue for future therapeutic development.

Evaluation Recovery of Ulcerative Colitis with a Lactobacillus Cocktail Derived from Traditional Dairy Products: In vivo Study

Background

This investigation investigates the anti-inflammatory and fibrinolytic effects of a cocktail of probiotics derived from traditional dairy products in a murine model of ulcerative colitis (UC).

Materials and Methods

A mix of newly isolated probiotics containing L. plantarum, L. brevis, L. delbrueckii, and L. helveticus was characterized and orally administered to inbred eight-week-old C57BL/6 male mice (n = 6). Clinical symptoms, pathohistological changes, and inflammatory and fibrosis markers were analyzed in the existence and absence of probiotics in colitis mice.

Results

Dairy lactobacillus probiotics potently attenuated colitis symptoms by decreasing dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced body weight loss, colon shortening, rectal bleeding, and rectal prolapse. Consistently, a cocktail of probiotics could significantly improve histopathological grading by suppressing crypt loss, mucosal damage, and inflammation scores in colitis tissues. Moreover, the mix of probiotics suppressed pro-inflammatory genes including interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), and increased anti-oxidant markers and activity such as superoxide dismutase and catalase in colon tissue. Furthermore, compared to the no-treated group, the administration of probiotics reduced fibrosis by decreasing collagen deposition in tissue sections and down-regulating levels of pro-fibrotic genes including alpha-actin-2 (Acta2), collagen (Col) 1a1, and Col 1a2 in colitis tissue homogenates.

Conclusions

The results show the newly isolated cocktail of probiotics elicits a potent protective effect on UC symptoms in mice model. Further study on these probiotics is required to fully explore their effectiveness, strength, and safety considerations.

Health benefits of fermented olives, olive pomace and their polyphenols: a focus on the role of lactic acid bacteria

Fermented foods have regained popularity in Western diets for their health-promoting potential, mainly related to the role of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) during the fermentation process. Nowadays, there is an increasing demand for vegetable-based fermented foods, representing an environmentally sustainable options to overcome the limitations of lactose intolerance, vegetarian, or cholesterol-restricted diets. Among them, table olives and their co-products (i.e., olive pomace) represent important plant-origin matrices, whose exploitation is still limited. Olives are an important source of fiber and bioactive molecules such as phenolic compounds with recognized health-promoting effects. Based on that, this minireview offer a brief overview about the potential beneficial role of fermented table olives/olive pomace, with a particular focus on the role of LAB to obtain healthy and/or probiotic-enriched fermented foods.

Investigating the modulation of the endocannabinoid system by probiotic Lactiplantibacillus plantarum IMC513 in a zebrafish model of di-n-hexyl phthalate exposure

Environmental pollutants used as plasticizers in food packaging and in thousands of everyday products have become harmful for their impact on human health. Among them, phthalates, recognized as emerging endocrine disruptors (EDs) can induce toxic effects leading to different health disorders. Only few studies evaluated the effects of di-n-hexyl phthalate (DnHP) in in vivo models and no studies have been conducted to investigate the effect of DnHP on the endocannabinoid system (ECS), one of the majors signaling pathways involved in the microbiota-gut-brain axis. Due to the current relevance of probiotic bacteria as beneficial dietary interventions, the present study was aimed at evaluating the potential neuroprotective impact of daily administration of Lactiplantibacillus (Lpb.) plantarum IMC513 on zebrafish adults exposed to DnHP, with a focus on ECS modulation. Gene expression analysis revealed a promising protective role of probiotic through the restoration of ECS genes expression to the control level, in the brain of zebrafish daily exposed to DnHP. In addition, the levels of main endocannabinoids were also modulated. These findings confirm the potential ability of probiotics to interact at central level by modulating the ECS, suggesting the use of probiotics as innovative dietary strategy to counteract alterations by EDs exposure.

A proteomic insight reveals the role of food-associated Lactiplantibacillus plantarum C9O4 in reverting intestinal inflammation

Nowadays, Western diets and lifestyle lead to an increasing occurrence of chronic gut inflammation that represents an emerging health concern with still a lack of successful therapies. Fermented foods, and their associated lactic acid bacteria, have recently regained popularity for their probiotic potential including the maintenance of gut homeostasis by modulating the immune and inflammatory response. Our study aims to investigate the crosstalk between the food-borne strain Lactiplantibacillus plantarum C9O4 and intestinal epithelial cells in an in vitro inflammation model. Cytokines profile shows the ability of C9O4 to significantly reduce levels of IL-2, IL-5, IL-6, and IFN-γ. Proteomic functional analysis reveals an immunoregulatory role of C9O4, able to revert the detrimental effects of IFN-γ through the JAK/STAT pathway in inflamed intestinal cells. These results suggest a promising therapeutic role of fermented food-associated microbes for the management of gastrointestinal inflammatory diseases. Data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD042175.

Tumorigenesis in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Microbiota-Environment Interconnections

Colo-rectal cancer (CRC) is undoubtedly one of the most severe complications of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). While sporadic CRC develops from a typical adenoma-carcinoma sequence, IBD-related CRC follows different and less understood pathways and its pathophysiological mechanisms were not completely elucidated. In contrast to chronic inflammation, which is nowadays a well-recognised drive towards neoplastic transformation in IBD, only recently was gut microbiota demonstrated to interfere with both inflammation processes and immune-mediated anticancer surveillance. Moreover, the role of microbiota appears particularly complex and intriguing when also considering its multifaceted interactions with multiple environmental stimuli, notably chronic pathologies such as diabetes and obesity, lifestyle (diet, smoking) and vitamin intake. In this review, we presented a comprehensive overview on current evidence of the influence of gut microbiota on IBD-related CRC, in particular its mutual interconnections with the environment.

PPAR-Gamma Orchestrates EMT, AGE, and Cellular Senescence Pathways in Colonic Epithelium and Restrains the Progression of IBDs

Intestinal fibrosis, the most common complication of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), is characterized by an uncontrolled deposition of extracellular matrix proteins leading to complications resolvable only with surgery. Transforming growth factor is the key player in the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and fibrogenesis process, and some molecules modulating its activity, including peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-γ and its agonists, exert a promising antifibrotic action. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the contribution of signaling other than EMT, such as the AGE/RAGE (advanced glycation end products/receptor of AGEs) and the senescence pathways, in the etiopathogenesis of IBD. We used human biopsies from control and IBD patients, and we used a mouse model of colitis induced by dextran-sodium-sulfate (DSS), without/with treatments with GED (PPAR-gamma-agonist), or 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA), a reference drug for IBD treatment. In patients, we found an increase in EMT markers, AGE/RAGE, and senescence signaling activation compared to controls. Consistently, we found the overexpression of the same pathways in DSS-treated mice. Surprisingly, the GED reduced all the pro-fibrotic pathways, in some circumstances more efficiently than 5-ASA. Results suggest that IBD patients could benefit from a combined pharmacological treatment targeting simultaneously different pathways involved in pro-fibrotic signals. In this scenario, PPAR-gamma activation could be a suitable strategy to alleviate the signs and symptoms of IBD and also its progression.

Therapeutic Potential of Phenolic Compounds in Medicinal Plants-Natural Health Products for Human Health

Phenolic compounds and flavonoids are potential substitutes for bioactive agents in pharmaceutical and medicinal sections to promote human health and prevent and cure different diseases. The most common flavonoids found in nature are anthocyanins, flavones, flavanones, flavonols, flavanonols, isoflavones, and other sub-classes. The impacts of plant flavonoids and other phenolics on human health promoting and diseases curing and preventing are antioxidant effects, antibacterial impacts, cardioprotective effects, anticancer impacts, immune system promoting, anti-inflammatory effects, and skin protective effects from UV radiation. This work aims to provide an overview of phenolic compounds and flavonoids as potential and important sources of pharmaceutical and medical application according to recently published studies, as well as some interesting directions for future research. The keyword searches for flavonoids, phenolics, isoflavones, tannins, coumarins, lignans, quinones, xanthones, curcuminoids, stilbenes, cucurmin, phenylethanoids, and secoiridoids medicinal plant were performed by using Web of Science, Scopus, Google scholar, and PubMed. Phenolic acids contain a carboxylic acid group in addition to the basic phenolic structure and are mainly divided into hydroxybenzoic and hydroxycinnamic acids. Hydroxybenzoic acids are based on a C6-C1 skeleton and are often found bound to small organic acids, glycosyl moieties, or cell structural components. Common hydroxybenzoic acids include gallic, syringic, protocatechuic, p-hydroxybenzoic, vanillic, gentistic, and salicylic acids. Hydroxycinnamic acids are based on a C6-C3 skeleton and are also often bound to other molecules such as quinic acid and glucose. The main hydroxycinnamic acids are caffeic, p-coumaric, ferulic, and sinapic acids.

The Probiotic Strains Bifidοbacterium lactis, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum and Saccharomyces boulardii Regulate Wound Healing and Chemokine Responses in Human Intestinal Subepithelial Myofibroblasts

Bifidobacterium lactis, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum and Saccharomyces boulardii are common probiotic supplements. Colonic subepithelial myofibroblasts (cSEMFs) are actively involved in mucosal wound healing and inflammation. cSEMFs, isolated from healthy individuals, were stimulated with 102 or 104 cfu/mL of these probiotic strains alone and in combination, and their effect on chemokine and wound healing factor expression was assessed by qRT-PCR, ELISA and Sircol Assay, and on cSEMFs migration, by Wound Healing Assay. These strains remained viable and altered cSEMFs’ inflammatory and wound healing behavior, depending on the strain and concentration. cSEMFs treated with a combination of the four probiotics had a moderate, but statistically significant, increase in the mRNA and/or protein expression of chemokines CXCL1, CXCL2, CXCL4, CXCL8, CXCL10, CCL2 and CCL5, and healing factors, collagen type I and III, fibronectin and tissue factor. In contrast, when each strain was administered alone, different effects were observed, with greater increase or decrease in chemokine and healing factor expression, which was balanced by the mixture. Overall, this study highlights that the use of multiple probiotic strains can potentially alert the gut mucosal immune system and promote wound healing, having a better effect on mucosal immunity than the use of single probiotics.

The synergic impact of lignin and Lactobacillus plantarum on DSS-induced colitis model via regulating CD44 and miR 199a alliance

Chronic or recurrent immune system activation and inflammation inside the gastrointestinal tract is characterized by inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Due to the lack of safety and efficacy of traditional medications, the use of food supplements for IBD management is on the rise. Numerous studies reported that, certain food supplements have a variety of therapeutic benefits for IBD. In the present study, a mouse model of IBD was used to the anti-colitis effects of lignin supplementation with Lactobacillus plantarum (L. plantarum) on intestinal inflammation. The animal model was treated with dextran sodium sulphate (DSS), the illness index increased, and colon length and body weight declined, but these effects were reversed when lignin and L. plantarum treated groups. In addition, lignin and L. plantarum supplementation inhibited the DSS induced increase in levels of cytokines TNF-α (250 pg/mL), INF-γ (180 pg/mL), IL-1β (70 pg/mL) and TGF- β (72 pg/mL). Gene and protein expression study revealed that Lignin and L. plantarum supplementation restored the expression of E-cad and suppressed the expression of STAT3 in DSS induced colitis model. Lignin and L. plantarum supplementation also suppressed CD44 expression (1.2 fold) by up regulating the expression of miR199a (1 fold) over DSS induced colitis. Our study suggests that Lactobacillus, lignin, and their synergistic treatments have protective roles against inflammatory bowel disease through changes in inflammatory cytokines, and miR 199a expression in DSS-induced colitis.

Chemoprevention effect of the Mediterranean diet on colorectal cancer: Current studies and future prospects

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer and the second most deadly cancer worldwide. Nevertheless, more than 70% of CRC cases are resulted from sporadic tumorigenesis and are not inherited. Since adenoma-carcinoma development is a slow process and may take up to 20 years, diet-based chemoprevention could be an effective approach in sporadic CRC. The Mediterranean diet is an example of a healthy diet pattern that consists of a combination of nutraceuticals that prevent several chronic diseases and cancer. Many epidemiological studies have shown the correlation between adherence to the Mediterranean diet and low incidence of CRC. The goal of this review is to shed the light on the anti-inflammatory and anti-colorectal cancer potentials of the natural bioactive compounds derived from the main foods in the Mediterranean diet.

Extracellular Vesicles and Resistance to Anticancer Drugs: A Tumor Skeleton Key for Unhinging Chemotherapies

Although surgical procedures and clinical care allow reaching high success in fighting most tumors, cancer is still a formidable foe. Recurrence and metastatization dampen the patients’ overall survival after the first diagnosis; nevertheless, the large knowledge of the molecular bases drives these aspects. Chemoresistance is tightly linked to these features and is mainly responsible for the failure of cancer eradication, leaving patients without a crucial medical strategy. Many pathways have been elucidated to trigger insensitiveness to drugs, generally associated with the promotion of tumor growth, aggressiveness, and metastatisation. The main mechanisms reported are the expression of transporter proteins, the induction or mutations of oncogenes and transcription factors, the alteration in genomic or mitochondrial DNA, the triggering of autophagy or epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, the acquisition of a stem phenotype, and the activation of tumor microenvironment cells. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) can directly transfer or epigenetically induce to a target cell the molecular machinery responsible for the acquisition of resistance to drugs. In this review, we resume the main body of knowledge supporting the crucial role of EVs in the context of chemoresistance, with a particular emphasis on the mechanisms related to some of the main drugs used to fight cancer.