Vitexin Protects against Dextran Sodium Sulfate-Induced Colitis in Mice and Its Potential Mechanisms

Abstract

Vitexin, one of the major active components in hawthorn, has been shown to possess multiple pharmacological activities. Here, we sought to investigate the effect of vitexin on an ameliorating dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced ulcerative colitis (UC) mouse model and further explored its potential mechanism. The results indicated that vitexin administration could significantly alleviate the signs of colitis via suppressing body weight loss, reducing disease activity index (DAI) score, and mitigating colonic damage. Also, vitexin treatment in colitis mice markedly inhibited the production of pro-inflammation cytokines (such as IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α). Meanwhile, vitexin also could markedly down-regulate the phosphorylation levels of p65, IκB, and STAT1. Moreover, vitexin also dose-dependently increased the expressions of muc-2, ZO-1, and occludin proteins in colonic tissues of colitis mice. Further studies revealed that vitexin dramatically modulated the disturbed intestinal flora in colitis mice. Vitexin is beneficial for regulating abundances of some certain bacteria, such as Bacteroides, Helicobacter, Alistipes, Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136_group, and Lachnospiraceae_UCG-006. Interestingly, the correlation analysis indicated that key microbes were strongly correlated with colitis features, such as pro-inflammatory cytokines and gut barrier. Collectively, these results demonstrated that vitexin treatment alleviated inflammation, intestinal barrier dysfunction, and intestinal flora dysbiosis in colitis mice. Vitexin is expected to be a promising compound for UC treatment.

Usnea improves high-fat diet- and vitamin D3-induced atherosclerosis in rats by remodeling intestinal flora homeostasis

“…Thus, additional research is required to determine the variance of Akkermansia in AS. Ruminiclostridium 5 and Lachnospiraceae NK4A136 are related to inflammatory bowel disease, and Lachnospiraceae NK4A136 may also affect the expression of ZO-1 and occludin protein, thereby affecting the intestinal barrier (Shao et al, 2020;Zhang et al, 2022). Enterococcus, as a probiotic, may contribute to the transport of cholesterol, and may have a cholesterol lowering effect on hypercholesterolemic mice (Cavallini et al, 2009;Zhu et al, 2019); It was also found that Enterococcus was negatively correlated with TC and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, and positively correlated with HDL-C (Cavallini et al, 2011).…”

Chemical Composition and Antibacterial and Antiulcerative Colitis Activities of Essential Oil from Pruni Semen

“…PSEO Attenuated Histopathological Characteristics in DSS-Induced UC Mice. DSS can induce colonic injury to exacerbate colon atrophy, 31 which is a common phenomenon in DSS-induced colitis models. The length of the colon in DSS-induced colitis mice (3.85 ± 0.07 cm) was dramatically shorter than that of control mice (5.63 ± 0.72 cm), where DSS + ME and DSS + M-PSEO groups could significantly inhibit colon shortening (Figure 4A,B).…”

Potential efficacy and mechanism of eight mild-natured and bitter-flavored TCMs based on gut microbiota: A review

“…Importantly, they found this beneficial effect of vitexin was partly achieved via up-regulating Akkermansia , Lactobacillus , Romboutsia , and down-regulating Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136_group, norank_f_Eubacterium_coprostanoligenes_group , unclassified_f__Lachnospiraceae , Blautia , Colidextribacter ( Li et al, 2021 ). Moreover, vitexin could regulate the abundance of Bacteroides , Helicobacter , Alistipes , Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136_group, and Lachnospiraceae_UCG-006 to attenuate DSS-induced inflammation, intestinal barrier dysfunction, thereby can be regarded as an effective agent for colitis treatment ( Zhang et al, 2022 ).…”