AUTHOR=Wan Fan , Wang Mengyu , Zhong Ruqing , Chen Liang , Han Hui , Liu Lei , Zhao Yong , Lv Huiyuan , Hou Fujiang , Yi Bao , Zhang Hongfu 

TITLE=Supplementation With Chinese Medicinal Plant Extracts From Lonicera hypoglauca and Scutellaria baicalensis Mitigates Colonic Inflammation by Regulating Oxidative Stress and Gut Microbiota in a Colitis Mouse Model

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cellular-and-infection-microbiology/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2021.798052

DOI=10.3389/fcimb.2021.798052

ISSN=2235-2988

ABSTRACT=<p>Colitis, a chronic inflammatory bowel disease, is characterized by bloody diarrhea and inflammation in the colon. <italic>Lonicera hypoglauca</italic> (“Shanyinhua” in Chinese) and <italic>Scutellaria baicalensis</italic> (“Huangqin” in Chinese) are two traditional Chinese medicinal plants rich in polyphenols, such as chlorogenic acid (CGA) and baicalin (BA), with the effects of anti-inflammation and antioxidation. However, it remains unknown whether extracts from <italic>L. hypoglauca</italic> and <italic>S. baicalensis</italic> (LSEs) could mitigate colonic inflammation. In the present study, ICR mice (22.23 ± 1.65 g) were allocated to three groups treated with chow diet without (CON) or with dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) (CON+DSS) in water or LSE supplementation in diet with DSS (LSE+DSS), and then inflammatory and oxidative parameters and colonic microbiota were detected. The results showed that LSE (500 mg/kg) treatment mitigated DSS-induced colitis symptoms and restored the shortened colon length, the increased disease activity index (DAI), and the damaged intestinal barrier. In serum, LSE supplementation significantly decreased levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines including interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and increased IL-10 level. Meanwhile, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) were increased, and malondialdehyde (MDA) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels were decreased. In the colon tissue, qPCR results showed that LSE supplementation dramatically downregulated the transcriptional expression of <italic>IL-1β</italic>, <italic>IL-6</italic>, <italic>TNF-α</italic>, and <italic>MDA</italic> and upregulated the expression of <italic>SOD1</italic>, <italic>CAT</italic>, and <italic>IL-10</italic>. Additionally, the damaged gut barriers occludin and zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1) in the CON+DSS group were enhanced with LSE supplementation. Furthermore, LSE treatment regulated the gut microbial communities with higher relative abundance of <italic>Dubosiella</italic> and <italic>Ruminococcus torques</italic> group and lower relative abundance of <italic>Bacteroides</italic> and <italic>Turicibacter</italic>. Moreover, the contents of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) as products of gut microbiota were also increased. Correlation analysis showed that the mRNA expression of <italic>SOD1</italic> was negatively correlated with <italic>TNF-α</italic> (r = -0.900, <italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.05); the mRNA expression of <italic>IL-6</italic> (r = -0.779, <italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.05) and <italic>TNF-α</italic> (r = -0.703, <italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.05) had a dramatically negative correlation with <italic>Dubosiella</italic>. In conclusion, LSE supplementation could effectively ameliorate inflammation by modulating oxidative stress and gut microbiota in a colitis mouse model.</p>