Diosmetin protects against DSS-induced colitis in vivo
We first evaluated the effects of diosmetin treatment on DSS (the concentration of 3% and 5%)-induced colitis, and the experimental program is shown in Fig. 1A, B. As shown in Fig. 1C, the body weight was decreased apparently and the DAI score increased rapidly with the treatment of DSS. After stopping drinking DSS, the body weight was recovered gradually and the DAI score decreased. As shown in Fig. 1D, compared to DSS only group, the body weight in mice treated with diosmetin was higher and DAI score was lower. As shown in Fig.1E, F, compared with control group, the length of colon significantly shorten in DSS only group, however the length of colon observably become longer in DSS with diosmetin group compared to DSS group. As shown in Figure 1G, H, (200× magnification) the histopathological changes including the inflammatory infiltration, disappearance of goblet cells and superficial epithelial cells and edema between mucosal and muscular layers, in the groups treated with DSS only, were all markedly reversed by SASP and diosmetin.
As shown in Figure 1I, K, the viability of caco2 and IEC-6 cells was increased or decreased without any significant difference compared to that of control group after treatment with diosmetin (25–400 μM) for 6–24 h, which revealed that diosmetin was non-toxic to caco2 and IEC-6 cells under such conditions. As shown in Figure 1G, L, exposure to LPS (0.125–32 μg /mL) for 24 h induced the viability of caco2 and IEC-6 cells slightly increased or decreased without any significant difference compared with the control groups. These results indicated that diosmetin markedly alleviated DSS-induced colitis and was non-toxic to caco2 and IEC-6 cells.