Potential of natural flavonols and flavanones in the treatment of ulcerative colitis

Abstract

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is an inflammatory bowel disease generally characterized by chronic, persistent, recurrent, and non-specific ulcers of the intestine. Its main clinical manifestations include abdominal pain, diarrhea, and bloody stools. This disease is difficult to cure and even carries the risk of canceration. It has been listed as a modern refractory disease by the World Health Organization. Though a large amount of drugs are available for the inhibition of UC, the conventional treatment such as aminosalicylic acids, glucocorticoids, immunosuppressors, and biological agents possess certain limitations and serious side effects. Therefore, it is urgently needed for safe and effective drugs of UC, and natural-derived flavonols and flavanones showed tremendous potential. The present study concentrated on the progress of natural-derived flavonols and flavanones from edible and pharmaceutical plants for the remedy of UC over the last two decades. The potential pharmaceutical of natural-derived flavonols and flavanones against UC were closely connected with the modulation of gut microflora, gut barrier function, inflammatory reactions, oxidative stress, and apoptosis. The excellent efficacy and safety of natural flavonols and flavanones make them prospective drug candidates for UC suppression.

Natural compounds target programmed cell death (PCD) signaling mechanism to treat ulcerative colitis: a review

“…Numerous studies have demonstrated that oxidative stress can cause apoptosis through both mitochondria-dependent and mitochondria-independent pathways . Improving UC by inhibiting apoptosis through regulating oxidative stress-related signaling pathways has been widely recognized (Li et al, 2023). In response to the above studies, we found several compounds that demonstrate effectiveness in modulating this pathway.…”

“…ELISA showed a significant decrease in IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, and Fe2+, and the biochemical assay detected upregulation of SOD, GSH, and GPX4 content, and MDA expression was suppressed. Mechanistic studies showed that codonopsis extract could regulate the Keap1/ Nrf2 signaling pathway to inhibit ferroptosis (Li et al, 2023;Fang et al, 2023). These experimental results mean that modulating Nrf2 can be used as a natural target for natural products to treat UC.…”

Involvement of gut microbiota recovery and autophagy induction in Youhua Kuijie Formula’s protection against experimental ulcerative colitis

“…Considering the major roles of intestinal mucosal barrier function and microflora in UC occurrence and development receive serious attentions recently, plenty of studies naturally put forward the theoretical hypothesis that restoring their functions contribute to UC prevention and treatment [6][7]. The epithelial barrier of the intestinal tract, the first defense barrier against the hostile pathogens or harmful antigens, is structurally formed by tight junctions, adheren junctions, and desmosomes between the epithelial cells [8][9].…”