Diets, functional foods, and nutraceuticals as alternative therapies for inflammatory bowel disease: Present status and future trends

Abstract

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a serious health concern among western societies. The disease is also on the rise in some East Asian countries and in Australia. Health professionals and dietitians around the world are facing an unprecedented challenge to prevent and control the increasing prevalence of IBD. The current therapeutic strategy that includes drugs and biological treatments is inefficient and are associated with adverse health consequences. In this context, the use of natural products is gaining worldwide attention. In vivo studies and clinical evidence suggest that well-planned dietary regimens with specific nutrients can alleviate gastrointestinal inflammation by modulating inflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), interleukin 1 (IL-1), IL-6, IL-1β, and IL-10. Alternatively, the avoidance of high-fat and high-carbohydrate diets is regarded as an effective tool to eliminate the causes of IBD. Many functional foods and bioactive components have received attention for showing strong therapeutic effects against IBD. Both animal and human studies suggest that bioactive functional foods can ameliorate IBD by downregulating the pro-inflammatory signaling pathways, such as nuclear factor κB, STAT1, STAT6, and pro-inflammatory cytokines, including IL-1β, IL-4, IL-6, COX-2, TNF-α, and interferon γ. Therefore, functional foods and diets have the potential to alleviate IBD by modulating the underlying pathogenic mechanisms. Future comprehensive studies are needed to corroborate the potential roles of functional foods and diets in the prevention and control of IBD.

Synbiotic supplementation with prebiotic green banana resistant starch and probiotic Bacillus coagulans spores ameliorates gut inflammation in mouse model of inflammatory bowel diseases

“…Application of dietary strategies to prevent the onset or reduce the severity of IBD is gaining momentum. The mechanisms that contribute to managing IBD appear to act through modulating cytokine responses, epithelial integrity and gut microbiota [50,51]. The results of the present study clearly indicated that pre-conditioning of the gut with synbiotic supplementation carrying probiotic and prebiotic components markedly reduced the symptoms and severity of DSS-induced colitis in the mouse model.…”

Green chicory leaf extract exerts anti-inflammatory effects through suppressing LPS-induced MAPK/NF-κB activation and hepatoprotective activity in vitro

“…Inflammation is an inevitable and essential cellular event in response to infection, antigen in the living organisms. The inflammation is also recognized as a hallmark of many chronic diseases, such as cancer, obesity, diabetes, arthritis, cardiac diseases, IBD, Parkinson disease (PD) and so on (Al Mijan & Lim, 2018;Chen et al, 2018;Ghosh et al, 2018;Miao et al, 2019;Tilg, Zmora, Adolph, & Elinav, 2020) when it goes aversively. Molecular mechanisms of inflammation are still complex and not fully understood.…”

Protective Effect of Cicer arietinum L. (Chickpea) Ethanol Extract in the Dextran Sulfate Sodium-Induced Mouse Model of Ulcerative Colitis

“…The use of medicinal foods or phytochemicals extracted from food and plants has been a major research focus throughout the last decade as potential therapies for IBD, and many research groups have demonstrated remarkable findings [28]. Many natural products, such as plant-derived extracts, antioxidants, and phytochemicals, have reported strong protective effects against IBD due to their ability to regulate inflammation-mediated cytokines and signaling pathways [29][30][31].…”