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The Effects of Watermelon Powder on Colitis in High Fat‐Diet Fed and Dextran Sodium Sulfate‐Treated Rats
Author(s) -
Tseng YenTzu,
Hong Mee Young
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.30.1_supplement.1167.14
Subject(s) - colitis , oxidative stress , inflammation , medicine , antioxidant , crypt , gastroenterology , colorectal cancer , ulcerative colitis , apoptosis , pharmacology , chemistry , cancer , biochemistry , disease
Colitis, which is a chronic and recurrent inflammation in the inner lining of the large intestine, is considered to increase the risk of colorectal cancer. Dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) induced colitis in rodents is widely used to mimic human colitis through influencing the growth and damaging the structure of colonic crypts. Watermelon and its bioactive phytochemicals are known to play an effective role reducing oxidative stress through its high antioxidant capability, which has reported to suppress the inflammatory response in numerous studies. The objective of our study was to determine the possibly preventive effects of watermelon supplementation on DSS‐treated colitis in rats. We hypothesized that phytochemical‐rich watermelon supplementation reduces the risk of colitis by maintaining the number of intact crypts and regulating the cell homeostasis during the DSS‐induced inflammation. The 40 rats were randomly divided into four groups: control diet, control diet+DSS, 0.33% watermelon powder diet, and 0.33% watermelon powder diet+DSS. Following 4 weeks of defined diets, DSS group rats were administrated 3% (w/v) DSS (40kDa) in their drinking water for 2 days, while no‐DSS group rats continued to receive non‐treated drinking water. The number of intact crypts in colon was significantly lower in two DSS‐treated groups ( p < .05). DSS administration dramatically increased the apoptosis in epithelial cell ( p < .001). There was a trend of reduced number of cells in crypt height in DSS groups ( p = .078). The proliferative zone was significantly elevated in DSS‐treated rats ( p = .002). The number of intact colonic crypts was significantly higher in watermelon+DSS group compared to control+DSS group ( p < .05). In watermelon+DSS group, the apoptosis was reduced in middle third of the crypt compared to control+DSS group ( p < .01). Cell proliferation significantly decreased in watermelon+DSS group compared to control+DSS group ( p = .001). Control+DSS group increased cell proliferation in middle and top parts of crypts compared to control+noDSS group ( p < .05). Watermelon+DSS group decreased cell proliferation in the bottom and middle parts of the crypts but increased in the top part of the crypt compared to watermelon+noDSS group ( p < .05). DSS effects on cell proliferation were different according to the diet. The data demonstrated that watermelon supplementation improves colitis by maintaining normal colonic crypt morphology and modulating the homeostasis of cell proliferation and apoptosis. Support or Funding Information The study was funded by SDSU University Grant Program and The US National Watermelon Promotion Board.