Use of the prebiotic inulin in the prevention of adverse signs of acute colitis

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the influences of prebiotic inulin diet intervention on the activity of β-glucuronidase and counts of coliforms and lactobacilli in fresh caecal digesta, cytokine levels (IL-6, IL-8) and transcription nuclear factor kappa beta (NFkB) activities in the colon tissue and blood samples of rats with dextran sulphate sodium (DSS) induced acute colitis. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (8 per group) were randomly divided into three groups: Control, Acute colitis and Prebiotic. Colitis was induced using 5% DSS in drinking water for 7d. DSS application significantly increased the activity of β-glucuronidase (p<0.001), increased counts of coliform bacteria and decreased lactobacilli count (p<0.05) in comparison to the control group. Serum and tissue levels of IL-6 and IL-8 as well as tissue NFkB activities showed an increased expression in the acute colitis group. These results correspond to the average value of the disease activity index score (DAI) and revealed the maximum DAI score (6.5) in the acute colitis group. A decrease in the DAI score (4.13) was observed after application of the prebiotic inulin. Inulin diet intervention positively modified the number of microorganims and decreased β-glucuronidase activity. Colon tissue activities of NFkB were significantly suppressed (p<0.001). The synthesis of proinflammatory cytokines IL-6 (p<0.01) in the serum and in the colon tissue, as well as tissue IL-8 (p<0.05) in the prebiotic group were downregulated. These findings indicate that the dietary intake of inulin suppressed the expression of the observed markers, which play an important role in the inflammatory process, which predisposes to the use of inulin in the prevention or treatment of acute colitis in human and veterinary medicine.