Serum and colon metabolomics study reveals the anti-ulcerative colitis effect of Croton crassifolius Geisel

Butyrate attenuates cold-induced hypertension via gut microbiota and activation of brown adipose tissue

OBJECTIVE

Chronic exposure to cold temperature is known to elevate blood pressure, leading to a condition known as cold-induced hypertension (CIH). Our previous research suggested correlations between alterations in gut microbiota, decrease in butyrate level, and the onset and progression of CIH. However, the role of butyrate in CIH and the underlying mechanisms need further investigation.

METHODS

We exposed Specific Pathogen Free (SPF) rats to continuous cold temperature (4 ± 1 °C) for 6 weeks to establish a CIH rat model. Rats were divided into different groups by dose and duration, and the rats under cold were administered with butyrate (0.5 or 1 g/kg/day) daily. We assessed hypertension-associated phenotypes, pathological morphological changes, and endocrine-related phenotypes of brown adipose tissue (BAT). The effects of butyrate on gut microbiota and intestinal content metabolism were evaluated by 16s RNA sequencing and non-targeted metabolomics, respectively.

RESULTS

The systolic blood pressure (SBP) of rats exposed to cold after supplemented with butyrate were significantly lower than that of the Cold group. Butyrate may increase the species, abundance, and diversity of gut microbiota in rats. Specifically, butyrate intervention enriched beneficial bacterial genera, such as Lactobacillaceae, and decreased the levels of harmful bacteria genera, such as Actinobacteriota and Erysipeiotrichaceae. Cold exposure significantly increased BAT cells and the number of mitochondria. After butyrate supplementation, the levels of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1a and fibroblast growth factor 21 in BAT were significantly elevated (P < 0.05), and the volume and number of lipid droplets increased. The levels of ANG II and high-density lipoprotein were elevated in the Cold group but decreased after butyrate supplementation.

CONCLUSION

Butyrate may attenuate blood pressure in CIH by promoting the growth of beneficial bacteria and the secretion of beneficial derived factors produced by BAT, thus alleviating the elevation of blood pressure induced by cold. This study demonstrates the anti-hypertensive effects of butyrate and its potential therapeutic mechanisms, offering novel insights to the prevention and treatment of CIH in populations living or working in cold environments.

Characterization of the chemical constituents of Croton crassifolius Geisel extract and plasma pharmacokinetics of 6 terpenoids after oral administration by UPLC-Q/TOF-MS

INTRODUCTION

Croton crassifolius Geisel. (CCG) is a traditional Chinese medicine widely used in South China. It has various pharmacological effects and is often used in treating rheumatoid arthritis and gastric and duodenal ulcers. However, the chemical characteristics and its effective constituents are still scarcely studied.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the phytochemical profile of the CCG extract and to investigate the chemical characteristics of terpenoids extracted from rat plasma following oral administration of CCG extract based on UPLC-Q/TOF-MS. Moreover, six terpenoids in CCG were quantified, and in vivo pharmacokinetic behavior after oral CCG extract was further explored.

RESULTS

In total, 56 terpenoids were tentatively identified in the CCG extract and 16 terpenoids were detected in rat plasma after oral CCG extract. In addition, the contents of six terpenoids in CCG were clarified. The plasma quantification method of six terpenoids was further established, validated, and confirmed to have good sensitivity and specificity. The six analytes exhibited excellent linearity in respective concentration ranges (r ≥ 0.998). The intra-day and inter-day precisions relative standard deviation (RSD, %) were less than 11.27%, and the accuracies ranged from -7.06% to 9.91%. Stability, extraction recovery, and matrix effect in plasma were within the required limits (RSD < 15%).

CONCLUSION

A total of 56 terpenoids were identified in CCG and 16 prototype components in plasma after oral CCG. The validated quantitative method was successfully applied to the simultaneous determination of six major terpenoids in plasma. The pharmacokinetic parameters are clarified, which can guide the clinical application of CCG.

In situ profiling reveals spatially metabolic injury in the initiation of polystyrene nanoplastic-derived intestinal epithelial injury in mice

Despite increasing concerns regarding the harmful effects of plastic-induced gut injury, mechanisms underlying the initiation of plastic-derived intestinal toxicity remain unelucidated. Here, mice were subjected to long-term exposure to polystyrene nanoplastics (PS-NPs) of varying sizes (80, 200, and 1000 nm) at doses relevant to human dietary exposure. PS-NPs exposure did not induce a significant inflammatory response, histopathological damage, or intestinal epithelial dysfunction in mice at a dosage of 0.5 mg/kg/day for 28 days. However, PS-NPs were detected in the mouse intestine, coupled with observed microstructural changes in enterocytes, including mild villous lodging, mitochondrial membrane rupture, and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) dysfunction, suggesting that intestinal-accumulating PS-NPs resulted in the onset of intestinal epithelial injury in mice. Mechanistically, intragastric PS-NPs induced gut microbiota dysbiosis and specific bacteria alterations, accompanied by abnormal metabolic fingerprinting in the plasma. Furthermore, integrated data from mass spectrometry imaging-based spatial metabolomics and metallomics revealed that PS-NPs exposure led to gut dysbiosis-associated host metabolic reprogramming and initiated intestinal injury. These findings provide novel insights into the critical gut microbial-host metabolic remodeling events vital to nanoplastic-derived-initiated intestinal injury.

Dendrobium huoshanense in the treatment of ulcerative colitis: Network pharmacology and experimental validation

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Dendrobium huoshanense C. Z. Tang et S. J. Cheng (DH) is a traditional medicinal herb with a long history of medicinal use. DH has been recorded as protecting the gastrointestinal function. Modern pharmacology research shows that DH regulates intestinal flora, intestinal mucosal immunity, gastrointestinal peristalsis and secretion of digestive juices. At the same time, some studies have shown that DH has a good therapeutic effect on ulcerative colitis, but its mechanism of action has not been fully elucidated.

AIMS OF THIS STUDY

To investigate the mechanism and effect of Dendrobium huoshanense C. Z. Tang et S. J. Cheng (DH) in the treatment of ulcerative colitis (UC) by combining network pharmacology and in vivo experimental validation.

METHODS

A network pharmacology approach was used to perform component screening, target prediction, PPI network interaction analysis, GO and KEGG enrichment analysis to initially predict the mechanism of DH treatment for UC. Then, the mechanism was validated with the UC mouse model induced by 3% DSS.

RESULTS

Based on the network pharmacological analysis, a comprehensive of 101 active components were identified, with 19 of them potentially serving as the crucial elements in DH's effectiveness against UC treatment. Additionally, the study revealed 314 potential core therapeutic targets along with the top 5 key targets: SRC, STAT3, AKT1, HSP90AA1, and PIK3CA. In experiments conducted on live mice with UC, DH was found to decrease the levels of IL-6 and TNF-α in the blood, while increasing the levels of IL-10 and TGF-β. This led to notable improvements in colon length, injury severity, and an up-regulation of SRC, STAT3, HSP90AA1, PIK3CA, p-AKT1 and PI3K/AKT signaling pathway expression in the colon tissue.

CONCLUSIONS

In this study, the active components and main targets of DH for UC treatment were initially forecasted, and the potential mechanism was investigated through network pharmacology. These findings offer an experimental foundation for the clinical utilization of DH.

An inulin-type fructan CP-A from Codonopsis pilosula alleviates TNBS-induced ulcerative colitis based on serum-untargeted metabolomics

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is an inflammatory disease with abdominal pain, diarrhea, and bloody stool as the main symptoms. Several studies have confirmed that polysaccharides are effective against UC. It is commonly accepted that the traditional benefits of Radix Codonopsis can be attributed to its polysaccharide contents, and inulin-type fructan CP-A is the main active monomer in the polysaccharide components. Herein, we established a 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS)-induced UC rat model and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced colonic epithelial cell model (NCM460) to investigate the effect of CP-A on UC. Untargeted metabolomics studies were conducted to identify differential metabolites using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF/MS) and enrich metabolic pathways in rat serum. The in vivo assays demonstrated that CP-A reduces colonic macroscopic injury, disease activity index (DAI), histopathological score, interleukin (IL)-8, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) levels, as well as the expression of intercellular adhesion molecules. On the other hand, CP-A increases IL-10 and transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) levels. The in vitro experiments indicated that CP-A treatment could reduce nitric oxide (NO) and IL-1β after LPS stimulation. The metabolomics results suggested that CP-A therapy for UC may be related to the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway. The in vitro and in vivo validation of the pathway showed similar results, indicating that CP-A alleviates UC by preventing the activation of mTOR/p70S6K signaling pathway. These findings offer a fresh approach to treating UC and a theoretical foundation for the future advancement of CP-A.NEW & NOTEWORTHY We report that an inulin-type fructan from Codonopsis pilosula CP-A exhibits a therapeutic effect on experimental colitis. Its mechanism may be to alleviate intestinal inflammation by preventing the activation of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)/p70S6K signaling pathway. These findings offer a fresh approach to treating ulcerative colitis (UC) and a theoretical foundation for the future advancement of CP-A.

Comparing univariate filtration preceding and succeeding PLS-DA analysis on the differential variables/metabolites identified from untargeted LC-MS metabolomics data

BACKGROUND

PLS-DA of high-dimensional metabolomics data is frequently employed to capture the most pertinent features to sample classification. But the presence of numerous insignificant input features could distort the PLS-DA model, blow up and scramble the selected differential features. Usually, univariate filtration is subsequently complemented to refine the selected features, but often giving unstable results. Whereas by precluding insignificant features through univariate data prefiltration assessed by FDR adjusted p-value, PLS-DA can generate more stable and reliable differential features. We explored and compared these two data analysis procedures to gain insights into the underlying mechanisms responsible for the disparate results.

RESULTS

The effect of univariate data filtration preceding and succeeding PLS-DA analysis on the identified discriminative features/metabolites was investigated using LC-MS data acquired on the samples of human serum and C. elegans extracts, with and without metabolite standards spiked to simulate the treated and control groups of biological samples. It was shown that the univariate data prefiltration before PLS-DA usually gave less but more stable and likely more reliable and meaningful differential features, while PLS-DA applied directly to the original data could be affected by the presence of insignificant features and orthogonal noise. Large number of insignificant variables and orthogonal noise could distort the generated PLS-DA model and affect the p(corr) value, and artificially inflate the calculated VIP values of relevant features due to the increased total number of input features for model construction, thus leading to more false positives selected by the conventional VIP threshold of 1.0.

SIGNIFICANCE AND NOVELTY

Univariate data filtration preceding PLS-DA was important for the identification of reliable differential features if using a conventional threshold of VIP of 1.0. Presence of insignificant features could distort the PLS-DA model and inflate VIP values. Appropriate VIP threshold is associated with the numbers of input features and the model components. For PLS-DA without univariate prefiltration, threshold of VIP larger than 1.0 is recommended for the selection of discriminative features to reduce the false positives.

Therapeutic Effects of Valeriana jatamansi on Ulcerative Colitis: Insights into Mechanisms of Action through Metabolomics and Microbiome Analysis

Ulcerative colitis (UC), belonging to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), is a chronic and relapsing inflammatory disorder of the gastrointestinal tract, which has not been completely cured in patients so far. Valeriana jatamansi is a Chinese medicine used clinically to treat "diarrhea," which is closely related to UC. This study was to elucidate the therapeutic effects of V. jatamansi extract (VJE) on dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced UC in mice and its underlying mechanism. In this work, VJE effectively ameliorates the symptoms and histopathological scores and reduces the production of inflammatory factors in UC mice. The colon untargeted metabolomics analysis and 16S rDNA sequencing showed remarkable differences in colon metabolite profiles and intestinal microbiome composition between the control and DSS groups, and VJE intervention can reduce these differences. Thirty-two biomarkers were found and modulated the primary pathways including pyrimidine metabolism, arginine biosynthesis, and glutathione metabolism. Meanwhile, twelve significant taxa of gut microbiota were found. Moreover, there is a close relationship between endogenous metabolites and intestinal flora. These findings suggested that VJE ameliorates UC by inhibiting inflammatory factors, recovering intestinal maladjustment, and regulating the interaction between intestinal microbiota and host metabolites. Therefore, the intervention of V. jatamansi is a potential therapeutic treatment for UC.

Pretreatment with Bifidobacterium longum BAA2573 ameliorates dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis by modulating gut microbiota

Objectives

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic lifelong inflammatory disease. Probiotics such as Bifidobacterium longum are considered to be beneficial to the recovery of intestinal inflammation by interaction with gut microbiota. Our goals were to define the effect of the exclusive use of BAA2573 on dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis, including improvement of symptoms, alleviation of histopathological damage, and modulation of gut microbiota.

Methods

In the present study, we pretreated C57BL/6J mice with Bifidobacterium longum BAA2573, one of the main components in an over-the-counter (OTC) probiotic mixture BIFOTO capsule, before modeling with DSS. 16S rDNA sequencing and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)-based non-targeted metabolomic profiling were performed with the collected feces.

Results

We found that pretreatment of Bifidobacterium longum BAA2573 given by gavage significantly improved symptoms and histopathological damage in DSS-induced colitis mice. After the BAA2573 intervention, 57 genera and 39 metabolites were significantly altered. Pathway enrichment analysis demonstrated that starch and sucrose metabolism, vitamin B6 metabolism, and sphingolipid metabolism may contribute to ameliorating colitis. Moreover, we revealed that the gut microbiome and metabolites were interrelated in the BAA2573 intervention group, while Alistipes was the core genus.

Conclusion

Our study demonstrates the impact of BAA2573 on the gut microbiota and reveals a possible novel adjuvant therapy for IBD patients.

Integration of metabolomics and transcriptomics to reveal ferroptosis is involved in Tripterygium wilfordii polyglycoside tablet-induced testicular injury

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Tripterygium wilfordii polyglycoside tablet (TWP), a traditional Chinese medicine preparation, has multiple pharmacological properties, including anti-inflammatory, immune-modulatory and anti-proliferative activities. However, the reproductive toxicity of TWP greatly limits its clinical application and the mechanism of TWP-induced reproductive toxicity is not fully understood yet.

AIM OF THE STUDY

This study was designed to explore the mechanism of TWP-induced testis injury in male rats.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The mechanism underlying TWP-induced rat testicular injury was firstly investigated by integration of metabolomics and transcriptomics. Meanwhile, histopathological analysis, Western blot and RT-qPCR were performed to confirm the damaging effects and mechanisms of TWP on rat testis.

RESULTS

Histopathological analysis revealed that TWP had significant testicular damage, which severely reduced the testis's tubular diameter and epithelium height. Further, TWP caused the protein level of ZO-1, CLDN11, PLZF, and OCT4 significantly downregulate, suggesting the blood-testis barrier function and spermatogenesis were damaged. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs), including 4952 upregulated and 2626 downregulated, were found in TWP-exposed testis compared to the normal group. Moreover, 77 changed metabolites were identified from testis samples. With integrated analysis of DEGs and changed metabolites, we found that glutathione metabolism and ferroptosis played an essential role in testicular injury. Additionally, the levels of ferroptosis-related protein GPX4, SLC7A11, and NRF2 were significantly downregulated, and the protein level of 4-HNE, a leading product of lipid peroxidation and oxidative stress, was upregulated. The changes in ferroptosis-related genes indicated that TWP might promote ferroptosis in rat testis.

CONCLUSION

These results suggested that ferroptosis was involved in the testicular damage caused by TWP, which might provide a new strategy to alleviate TWP- induced testicular injury.

Study on the Comprehensive Phytochemicals and the Anti-Ulcerative Colitis Effect of Saussurea pulchella

BACKGROUND

Saussurea pulchella (SP) is a traditional medicinal plant that is widely used in folk medicine because of its diverse biological activities, particularly its anti-inflammatory effects. However, the alleviation effect of SP on ulcerative colitis (UC) has not yet been realized.

PURPOSE

To investigate the chemical composition and therapeutic effect of SP extract against UC.

METHODS

First, qualitative and quantitative analysis of SP 75% ethanol extract was performed by UPLC-Q/TOF-MS. Second, a dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) model of UC mice was developed to study the effects of SP on the symptoms, inflammatory factors, oxidative stress indexes and colon histopathology. Third, an integration of network pharmacology with metabolomics was performed to investigate the key metabolites, biological targets and metabolisms closely related to the effect of SP.

RESULTS

From the SP ethanol extract, 149 compounds were identified qualitatively and 20 were determined quantitatively. The SP could dose-dependently decrease the DAI score, spleen coefficient and the levels of TNF-α, IL-6, iNOS, MPO and MDA; increase the colon length, GSH level and SOD activity; and protect the intestinal barrier in the UC mice. Moreover, 10 metabolite biomarkers,18 targets and 5 metabolisms were found to play crucial roles in the treatment of UC with SP.

CONCLUSIONS

SP 75% ethanol extract could effectively alleviate the progression of UC and, therefore, could be classified as a novel natural treatment for UC.

Protective effects of 4‐geranyloxy‐2,6‐dihydroxybenzophenonel on DSS ‐induced ulcerative colitis in mice via regulation of cAMP / PKA / CREB and NF‐κB signaling pathways

Hypericum sampsonii Hance has traditionally been used to treat enteritis and diarrhea. As one of the main benzophenones isolated from H. sampsonii, 4-geranyloxy-2,6-dihydroxybenzophenonel (4-GDB) has been shown to possess anti-inflammatory effects. However, the therapeutic effect and potential mechanisms of 4-GDB in ulcerative colitis (UC) remain unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the role of 4-GDB in UC using a dextran sulfate sodium-induced colitis mouse model. Intragastric administration of 4-GDB (20 mg/kg/day) for 8 days significantly attenuated colonic injury, reduced the expression of inflammatory mediators, and improved colonic barrier function in mice with colitis. Furthermore, in vivo and in vitro experiments indicated that 4-GDB could activate cAMP/PKA/CREB and inhibit the NF-κB pathway. Collectively, 4-GDB may be a potential agent for treating UC by regulating the cAMP/PKA/CREB and NF-κB pathways.

Mallotucin D, a Clerodane Diterpenoid from Croton crassifolius, Suppresses HepG2 Cell Growth via Inducing Autophagic Cell Death and Pyroptosis

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a major subtype of primary liver cancer with a high mortality rate. Pyroptosis and autophagy are crucial processes in the pathophysiology of HCC. Searching for efficient drugs targeting pyroptosis and autophagy with lower toxicity is useful for HCC treatment. Mallotucin D (MLD), a clerodane diterpenoid from Croton crassifolius, has not been previously reported for its anticancer effects in HCC. This study aims to evaluate the inhibitory effects of MLD in HCC and explore the underlying mechanism. We found that the cell proliferation, DNA synthesis, and colony formation of HepG2 cells and the angiogenesis of HUVECs were all greatly inhibited by MLD. MLD caused mitochondrial damage and decreased the TOM20 expression and mitochondrial membrane potential, inducing ROS overproduction. Moreover, MLD promoted the cytochrome C from mitochondria into cytoplasm, leading to cleavage of caspase-9 and caspase-3 inducing GSDMD-related pyroptosis. In addition, we revealed that MLD activated mitophagy by inhibiting the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway. Using the ROS-scavenging reagent NAC, the activation effects of MLD on pyroptosis- and autophagy-related pathways were all inhibited. In the HepG2 xenograft model, MLD effectively inhibited tumor growth without detectable toxicities in normal tissue. In conclusion, MLD could be developed as a candidate drug for HCC treatment by inducing mitophagy and pyroptosis via promoting mitochondrial-related ROS production.

Integrated Metabonomics and Network Pharmacology to Reveal the Action Mechanism Effect of Shaoyao Decoction on Ulcerative Colitis

Background

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has the advantage of multi-component and multi-target, which becomes a hot spot in the treatment of numerous diseases. Shaoyao decoction (SYD) is a TCM prescription, which is mainly used to treat damp-heat dysentery clinically, with small side effects and low cost. However, its mechanism remains elusive. The purpose of this study is to explore the mechanism of SYD in the treatment of mice with ulcerative colitis (UC) induced by dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) through metabolomics and network pharmacology, and verify through molecular docking and immunohistochemistry, so as to provide a scientific basis for the role of SYD in the treatment of UC.

Materials and Methods

Firstly, DSS-induced UC models were established and then untargeted metabolomics analysis of feces, livers, serum and urine was performed to determine biomarkers and metabolic pathways closely related to the role of SYD. Besides, network pharmacology was applied to screen the active components and UC-related targets, which was verified by molecular docking. Finally, metabonomics and network pharmacology were combined to draw the metabolite-pathway-target network and verified by immunohistochemistry.

Results

Metabolomics results showed that a total of 61 differential metabolites were discovered in SYD-treated UC with 3 main metabolic pathways containing glycerophospholipid metabolism, sphingolipid metabolism and biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids, as well as 8 core targets involving STAT3, IL1B, IL6, IL2, AKT1, IL4, ICAM1 and CCND1. Molecular docking demonstrated that the first five targets had strong affinity with quercetin, wogonin, kaempferol and baicalein. Combined with metabolomics and network pharmacology, sphingolipid signaling pathway, PI3K/AKT-mTOR signaling pathway and S1P3 pathway were identified as the main pathways.

Conclusion

SYD can effectively ameliorate various symptoms and alleviate intestinal mucosal damage and metabolic disorder in DSS induced UC mice. Its effect is mainly related to sphingolipid metabolism, PI3K/AKT-mTOR signaling pathway and S1P3 pathway.

Integrated Metabolomics and Network Pharmacology to Decipher the Latent Mechanisms of Protopanaxatriol against Acetic Acid-Induced Gastric Ulcer

Gastric ulcer (GU) is a peptic disease with high morbidity and mortality rates affecting approximately 4% of the population throughout the world. Current therapies for GU are limited by the high relapse incidence and side effects. Therefore, novel effective antiulcer drugs are urgently needed. Ginsenosides have shown good anti-GU effects, and the major intestinal bacterial metabolite of ginsenosides, protopanaxatriol (PPT), is believed to be the active component. In this study, we evaluated the anti-GU effect of PPT in rats in an acetic acid-induced GU model. High (H-PPT) and medium (M-PPT) doses of PPT (20.0 and 10.0 mg/mg/day) significantly reduced the ulcer area and the ET-1, IL-6, EGF, SOD, MDA and TNF-α levels in serum were regulated by PPT in a dose-dependent manner. We also investigated the mechanisms of anti-GU activity of PPT based on metabolomics coupled with network pharmacology strategy. The result was that 16 biomarkers, 3 targets and 3 metabolomic pathways were identified as playing a vital role in the treatment of GU with PPT and were further validated by molecular docking. In this study, we have demonstrated that the integrated analysis of metabolomics and network pharmacology is an effective strategy for deciphering the complicated mechanisms of natural compounds.

Oral administration of octacosanol modulates the gut bacteria and protects the intestinal barrier in ulcerative colitis mice

Octacosanol (Oct), a kind of long-chain fatty alcohol extracted from rice bran was applied to study its effects on alleviating ulcerative colitis (UC). Oct was orally administered at 10 mg/kg (Oct-L) and 30 mg/kg (Oct-H) to dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced mice. Here, we reported that oral administration of 30 mg/kg Oct can significantly prevent the weight loss, colon shortening, and decrease the disease activity index (DAI) score. Oct-H supplementation modified the intestinal flora by lowering the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes (F/B) ratio, increasing the abundance of Prevotellaceae, S24-7, Turicibacter, and meanwhile decreasing Enterococcus and Stenotrophomonas. Based on the PICRUSt2 analysis, Oct-H may exert effects by anti-inflammation and xenobiotics degradation. Furthermore, short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) levels were raised and the integrity of the gut barrier was protected. In conclusion, Oct-H can relieve clinical symptoms, modulate the gut bacteria and protect the intestinal barrier in UC mice, suggesting the potential of Oct as a food supplementation in alleviating UC. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a hard-to-cure disease, with increasing morbidity in recent years. Therefore, finding out a food supplement to alleviate UC is very meaningful. In this work, we showed that octacosanol significantly alleviated ulcerative colitis in mice. We revealed, for the first time, octacosanol's effects on protecting the integrity of the gut barrier, modulating the intestinal flora and its metabolism (SCFAs). Therefore, octacosanol was expected to prevent colitis in an all-round way. Our research might also lay the theoretical foundation for the further development of related functional foods.

Protective Effect of Ethyl Rosmarinate against Ulcerative Colitis in Mice Based on Untargeted Metabolomics

Aiming at assessing the therapeutic effect of ethyl rosmarinate (ER) on ulcerative colitis (UC), the following activities were performed in vitro and in vivo in the present study. Firstly, a lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW264.7 cell inflammation model was established to determine the level of inflammatory factors. Then, a UC mice model induced by dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) was established to further investigate the effects of ER on symptoms, inflammatory factors and colon histopathology. Finally, serum and colon metabolomics studies were performed to identify the biomarkers and metabolisms closely related to the protective effect of ER on UC. The results showed that after ER intervention, the levels of inflammatory factors (NO, TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6) and key enzyme (MPO) in cell supernatant, serum or colon were significantly decreased, and the disease activity index and colon tissue damage in mice were also effectively improved or restored. In addition, 28 biomarkers and 6 metabolisms were found to be re-regulated by ER in the UC model mice. Therefore, it could be concluded that ER could effectively ameliorate the progression of UC and could be used as a new natural agent for the treatment of UC.