Abstract
The aim of this investigation was to explore the protective impacts and mechanisms of Anastatica hierochuntica essential oil (EOAH) against dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced experimental colitis in mice. EOAH demonstrated a reduction in DSS-induced body weight decline, disease activity index (DAI), colon length reduction, colonic tissue damage, and myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity. The essential oil significantly mitigated the production of pro-inflammatory agents including TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-12. Further analysis revealed that EOAH’s anti-inflammatory effects involved the regulation of NF-κB and PPARγ pathways, as well as the inhibition of NLRP3 activation in colitis mice. Notably, EOAH treatment elevated the levels of beneficial commensal bacteria such as Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria, while reducing Escherichia coli levels in the mice’s feces. In addition, EOAH restored the expression of occludin and ZO-1 proteins in colonic tissues affected by ulcerative colitis (UC). These findings indicate that supplementing with EOAH might offer a novel therapeutic approach for UC prevention.
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Data created/analyzed associated with this research is available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the Deanship of Scientific Research at the Hashemite University for sponsoring this research.
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The authors would like to extend their sincere appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at the Hashemite University, Zarqa, Jordan (Grant number: 34/2020).
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Conceptualization, A.A. and E.S.A.; methodology, Y.B.; software, O.G.; validation, M.A., S.A. and A.A.; formal analysis, M.O.; investigation, A.A.; resources, E.Q.; data curation, R.A.D; writing—original draft preparation, A.A.; writing—review and editing, A.A.; visualization, M.W.; supervision, O.G.; project administration, E.Q.; funding acquisition, A.A. All the authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
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Animal experimental procedures were approved by the animal ethics committee at the Hashemite University (IRB number: 14/4/2021/2022, 14 April 2022), and were in accordance with the guidelines of the US National Institutes of Health on the use and care of laboratory animals, and with the Animal Research: Reporting of in Vivo Experiments (ARRIVE) guidelines Experiment design and induction of colitis in mice.
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Alqudah, A., Qnais, E., Gammoh, O. et al. Exploring the therapeutic potential of Anastatica hierochuntica essential oil in DSS-induced colitis. Inflammopharmacol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10787-024-01449-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10787-024-01449-4