ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE To study the improvement effects of Cannabis sativa oil on the symptoms in dextran sodium sulfate （DSS）-induced ulcerative colitis （UC） model rats， and to investigate its effects on intestinal flora of rats. METHODS Forty SD rats were randomly divided into control group， model group， C. sativa oil group （1 g/kg） and sulfasalazine group （positive control， 300 mg/kg）， with 10 rats in each group. The rats in control group and model group were given 0.5% polysorbate 80 by gavage， and the rats in C. sativa oil group and sulfasalazine group were given corresponding drug solution by gavage once a day for 10 days. From the 4th day， rats in model group， C. sativa oil group and sulfasalazine group were given 4% DSS solution for 7 consecutive days to establish UC model. The body weight， disease activity index （DAI） score， colon length， colon weight， weight per unit length of colon， the pathological changes of colon tissue， and the contents of tumour necrosis factor-α （TNF-α）， interleukin-6 （IL-6） and IL-10 in serum of rats were determined. The changes of intestinal flora in rats were detected by high- throughput sequencing. RESULTS Compared with control group， the body weight and the length of colon were decreased significantly in model group， while DAI score， the weight of colon， weight per unit length of colon， serum contents of TNF-α and IL-6 were increased significantly， and the content of IL-10 was decreased significantly （P＜0.05）； epithelial layer of colon tissue fell off， inflammatory cells infiltrated and invaded the submucosa， and intestinal glands were disordered. Compared with model group， above indexes of C. sativa oil group and sulfasalazine group were reversed significantly （P＜0.05）， and related symptoms were improved significantly. The result of flora sequencing showed that ACE index and Chao1 index of model group were decreased significantly， compared with control group （P＜0.05）； while Chao1 index of C. sativa oil group was increased significantly， compared with model group （P＜0.05）. Compared with control group， 41 genera of bacteria in the model group changed； compared with model group， C. sativa oil could return 3 of the 41 genera to normal state， including Dubosilla， Porphyrobacter and Allobaculum. CONCLUSIONS C. sativa oil can improve the symptoms of UC model rats by regulating the diversity of intestinal flora， increasing beneficial bacteria and decreasing pathogenic bacteria.