Project description:Colitis is the common pathological lesion of inflammatory bowel diseases, the major chronic inflammatory diseases of intestinal tracts in humans. In this study, we investigated the therapeutic effects of ginger extract and its component zingerone in mice with 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS)-induced colitis. Mice were administered with TNBS and/or various amounts of ginger and zingerone by an intrarectal route. The severity of colitis was evaluated by colonic weight/length ratio, macroscopic lesion, and histological examination. The mechanisms of ginger and zingerone were further elucidated by DNA microarray, ex vivo imaging, and immunohistochemical staining. Our data showed that treatment with ginger extract and zingerone ameliorated TNBS-induced colonic inflammation and injury in a dose-dependent manner. Pathway analysis of ginger- and zingerone-regulated gene expression profiles showed that ginger and zingerone significantly regulated cytokine-related pathways. Network analysis showed that nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) were key molecules involved in the expression of ginger- and zingerone-affected genes. Ex vivo imaging and immunohistochemical staining further verified that ginger and zingerone suppressed TNBS-induced NF-κB activation and decreased the NF-κB and IL-1β protein levels in the colon. In conclusion, our data showed that ginger improved the TNBS-induced colitis in mice via modulation of NF-κB activity and IL-1β signaling pathway. Moreover, zingerone might be the active component of ginger responsible for the amelioration of colitis induced by TNBS. A total of 24 mice was randomly divided into four groups of six mice: mock, mice were given with 0.1 ml of 50% ethanol; TNBS, mice were given with 250 mg/kg TNBS in 0.1 ml of 50% ethanol; TNBS/ginger, mice were administered with mixtures containing 250 mg/kg TNBS and various amounts of ginger extract in 0.1 ml of 50% ethanol; TNBS/zingerone, mice were given with mixtures containing 250 mg/kg TNBS and various amounts of zingerone in 0.1 ml of 50% ethanol. Mice were sacrificed seven days later for histochemical staining, RNA extraction, and ex vivo imaging.

Project description:Chitosan has been widely used in food industry as a weight-loss aid and a cholesterol-lowering agent. Previous studies have shown that chitosan affects metabolic responses and contributes to anti-diabetic, hypocholestermic, and blood glucose-lowering effects; however, the in vivo targeting sites and mechanisms of chitosan remain to be clarified. In this study, we constructed transgenic mice which carried the luciferase genes driven by peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR), a key regulator of fatty acid and glucose metabolism. Bioluminescent imaging of PPAR transgenic mice was applied to report the organs that chitosan acted on, and gene expression profiles of chitosan-targeted organs were further analyzed to elucidate the mechanisms of chitosan. Bioluminescent imaging showed that constitutive PPAR activities were detected in brain and gastrointestinal tract. Administration of chitosan significantly activated the PPAR activities in brain and stomach. Microarray analysis of brain and stomach showed that several pathways involved in lipid and glucose metabolism were regulated by chitosan. Moreover, the expression levels of metabolism-associated genes like apolipoprotein B (apoB) and ghrelin genes were down-regulated by chitosan. In conclusion, these findings suggested the feasibility of PPAR bioluminescent imaging-guided transcriptomic analysis on the evaluation of chitosan-affected metabolic responses in vivo. Moreover, we newly identified that downregulated expression of apoB and ghrelin genes were novel mechanisms for chitosan-affected metabolic responses in vivo . Mice (6 to 8 weeks old) were subcutaneously injected saline or 0.2 g/kg chitosan. Chitosan oligosaccharide lactate (MW=4000-6000, >90% deacetylation) was purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, MO, USA) and dissolved in DDW. For rosiglitazone treatment, mice were orally administered 50 mg/kg rosiglitazone. Mice were then imaged for the luciferase activity or sacrificed for microarray analysis at indicated periods.

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