Department of Clinical Biochemistry, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman.
Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat, Oman.
J Med Food. 2021 Dec;24(12):1255-1263. doi: 10.1089/jmf.2021.0007. Epub 2021 Oct 26.
Ulcerative colitis is a chronic inflammation of the colonic mucosa. Gum Arabic (GA) has been reported to exert anti-inflammatory and antifibrotic activity. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of GA on disease activity in an experimental model of colitis. Dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) was used to induce colitis in C57BL/6 mice and the animals were then switched to normal drinking water to monitor recovery. Mice received 140 g/L GA before (pre-GA group) or after (post-GA group) induction of colitis. Disease activity and recovery were assessed by changes in body weight, disease activity index (DAI), and histological assessment. Gene expression of proinflammatory, anti-inflammatory, and fibrotic markers was measured in colonic tissues. Mice in the pre-GA group showed an increase in body weight, with no differences in DAI scores, during the recovery phase and had lower histological colitis scores than mice in the post-GA group, which showed higher DAI and histological scores during the recovery phase. During the recovery phase, mice in the pre-GA group showed increased expression of proinflammatory markers, while gene expression of the fibrotic markers, transforming growth factor 1 () and , was reduced. The reduced fibrotic marker expression was associated with reduced collagen staining and increased epithelial cell proliferation. Administration of GA had protective and alleviative effects on the severity of DSS-induced colitis, with a reduction in colonic fibrosis and expression. These data warrant further and investigations on the effect of GA on fibroblast activity.
溃疡性结肠炎是一种结肠黏膜的慢性炎症。据报道，阿拉伯胶（GA）具有抗炎和抗纤维化活性。本研究旨在评估 GA 在结肠炎实验模型中对疾病活动的影响。葡聚糖硫酸钠（DSS）用于诱导 C57BL/6 小鼠结肠炎，然后切换至正常饮用水以监测恢复情况。在诱导结肠炎之前（预 GA 组）或之后（后 GA 组），小鼠接受 140 g/L GA。通过体重变化、疾病活动指数（DAI）和组织学评估来评估疾病活动和恢复情况。测量结肠组织中促炎、抗炎和纤维化标志物的基因表达。预 GA 组的小鼠在恢复阶段体重增加，DAI 评分无差异，并且组织学结肠炎评分低于后 GA 组的小鼠，后 GA 组在恢复阶段 DAI 和组织学评分较高。在恢复阶段，预 GA 组的小鼠促炎标志物的表达增加，而纤维化标志物转化生长因子 1 () 和 的基因表达减少。纤维化标志物表达减少与胶原染色减少和上皮细胞增殖增加有关。GA 的给药对 DSS 诱导的结肠炎的严重程度具有保护和缓解作用，减少了结肠纤维化和 的表达。这些数据进一步证明了 GA 对成纤维细胞活性的影响，值得进一步研究和临床验证。
