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Preventive rather than therapeutic treatment with high fiber diet attenuates clinical and inflammatory markers of acute and chronic DSS-induced colitis in mice

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Abstract

Purpose

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) are chronic inflammatory disorders with important impact on global health. Prebiotic and probiotic strategies are thought to be useful in the context of experimental IBD. Here, we compared the effects of preventive versus therapeutic treatment with a high fiber diet (prebiotic) in combination or not with Bifidobacterium longum (probiotic) in a murine model of chronic colitis.

Methods

Colitis was induced by adding dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) to drinking water for 6 days (acute colitis) or for 5 cycles of DSS (chronic colitis).

Results

Administration of the high fiber diet protected from acute colitis. Protection was optimal when diet was started 20 days prior to DSS. A 5-day pretreatment with acetate, a short-chain fatty acid, provided partial protection against acute colitis. In chronic colitis, pretreatment with the high fiber diet attenuated clinical and inflammatory parameters of disease. However, when the treatment with the high fiber diet started after disease had been established, overall protection was minimal. Similarly, delayed treatment with acetate or B. longum did not provide any protection even when the probiotic was associated with the high fiber diet.

Conclusion

Preventive use of a high fiber diet or acetate clearly protects mice against acute and chronic damage induced by DSS in mice. However, protection is lost when therapies are initiated after disease has been established. These results suggest that any therapy aimed at modifying the gut environment (e.g., prebiotic or probiotic strategies) should be given early in the course of disease.

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Acknowledgments

This work received financial support from Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES, Brazil), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq, Brazil), Fundação de Amparo e Pesquisas do Estado Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG, Brazil), National Institute of Science of Technology in Dengue (INCT in Dengue, CNPq, Brazil). We thank Frankcinéia Assis and Ilma Marçal for technical support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Immunopharmacology, Department of Biochemistry and Immunology, Biological Sciences Institute, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Avenida Antônio Carlos 6627, Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, CEP 31270-901, Brazil

    Ana Letícia Malheiros Silveira, Adaliene Versiani Matos Ferreira, Marina Chaves de Oliveira, Milene Alvarenga Rachid, Larissa Fonseca da Cunha Sousa, Angelica Thomaz Vieira & Mauro Martins Teixeira

  2. Department of Nutrition, Nursing School, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil

    Adaliene Versiani Matos Ferreira & Marina Chaves de Oliveira

  3. Department of General Pathology, Biological Sciences Institute, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil

    Milene Alvarenga Rachid

  4. Biotherapeutic Agents, Department of Microbiology, Biological Sciences Institute, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil

    Flaviano dos Santos Martins

  5. Immunobiology, Department of Biochemistry and Immunology, Biological Sciences Institute, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Ana Cristina Gomes-Santos

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  1. Ana Letícia Malheiros Silveira
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  2. Adaliene Versiani Matos Ferreira
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  3. Marina Chaves de Oliveira
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  6. Flaviano dos Santos Martins
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  8. Angelica Thomaz Vieira
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  9. Mauro Martins Teixeira
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Correspondence to Mauro Martins Teixeira.

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Silveira, A.L.M., Ferreira, A.V.M., de Oliveira, M.C. et al. Preventive rather than therapeutic treatment with high fiber diet attenuates clinical and inflammatory markers of acute and chronic DSS-induced colitis in mice. Eur J Nutr 56, 179–191 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-015-1068-x

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