Effects and mechanisms of vitexin against ulcerative colitis in mice / 中国药理学通报

ABSTRACT

Aim To evaluate the effect and mecha-nism of vitexin in a mouse model of DSS-induced ulcer-ative colitis (UC).Methods C57BL/6 mice were randomly placed into three groups normal control group,DSS group and DSS +Vitexin group.Mice coli-tis was induced by adding 4% dextran sulphate sodium (DSS)into the drinking water for seven days.Vitexin was administered once a day along with DSS treatment. Mice were monitored daily with body weight change and diarrhea symptoms.After sacrifice,colon was re-moved and fixed in 1 0% (W/V)buffered formalin for hematoxylin-eosin (H&E)staining.Histological dam-age was assessed as a combined score of inflammatory cell infiltration and mucosal damage.The remaining colon pieces were collected to measure the activity of myeloperoxidase (MPO)by ELISA method and to de-termine the mRNA expression of TNF-α,IL-6 and COX-2.Results None of the mice receiving vehicle alone exhibited body weight loss and mucosal disrup-tion at any point during the study.Vitexin treatment significantly ameliorated DSS-induced body weight loss and histological score.The activity of MPO and the mRNA expression of TNF-α,IL-6 and COX-2 were markedly inhibited by vitexin treatment.Conclusion Vitexin ameliorates DSS-induced colitis through sup-pressing leukocyte infiltration and pro-inflammatory mediators production.