Propolis May Help Treat Colitis

Propolis from Different Geographic Origins Suppress Intestinal Inflammation in a Model of DSS-Induced Colitis is Associated with Decreased Bacteroides spp. in the Gut

Mol Nutr Food Res. 2018 Jun 11:e1800080

BUY Concentrated Propolis in Veggie Capsules    

SCOPE:

Dietary supplementation with polyphenol-rich propolis can protect against experimentally-induced colitis. We examined whether different polyphenol compositions of Chinese propolis (CP) and Brazilian propolis (BP) influences their ability to protect against dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis in rats.

METHODS AND RESULTS:

HPLC-DAD/Q-TOF-MS analysis confirmed that polyphenol compositions of CP and BP were dissimilar. Rats were given CP or BP by gavage (300 mg/kg body weight) throughout the study, starting 1 week prior to DSS treatment for 1 week followed by 3 d without DSS. CP and BP significantly reduced the colitis disease activity index relative to controls not receiving propolis, prevented significant DSS-induced colonic tissue damage and increased resistance to DSS-induced colonic oxidative stress as shown by reduced malonaldehyde levels and increased T-AOC levels. CP and BP significantly reduced DSS-induced colonic apoptosis. Colonic inflammatory markers IL-1β, IL-6 and MCP-1 were suppressed by CP and BP, whereas only BP induced expression of TGF-β. CP, not BP, increased the diversity and richness of gut microbiota populations. Both forms of propolis significantly reduced populations of Bacteroides spp.

CONCLUSIONS:

Despite the dissimilar polyphenol compositions of CP and BP, their ability to protect against DSS-induced colitis is similar. Nevertheless, some different physiological impacts were observed.