Protective Effect and Mechanisms of Eckol on Chronic Ulcerative Colitis Induced by Dextran Sulfate Sodium in Mice

The use of functional foods and their bioactive components is receiving increasing attention as a complementary alternative therapy for chronic ulcerative colitis (UC). This study explored the protective effect mechanisms Eckol, seaweed-derived phlorotannin, on dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced UC in mice. Eckol (0.5–1.0 mg/kg) reduced DSS-enhanced disease activity indexes, alleviated shortening colon length colonic tissue damage contents tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6 were significantly decreased, level anti-inflammatory IL-10 was enhanced serum tissues collected from Eckol-treated mice compared with DSS controls. administration number apoptotic cells expression cleaved Caspase-3, increased B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2)/B-cell lymphoma-2- associated X (Bax) ratio DSS-challenged colons. There more cluster differentiation (CD)11c+ dendritic CD8+ T cells, less CD4+ infiltrated to inflamed groups. Expression Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), nuclear kappa-B (NF-κB) p65, phosphorylated-signal transducer activator transcription (pSTAT)3 down-regulated by group. In conclusion, our data suggest that appeared be potential food ingredient protection against UC. anti-colitis might attributed down-regulation TLR4/NF-κB/STAT3 pathway, inhibition inflammation apoptosis, well its immunoregulatory activity.