Investigation of diets with high contents of fiber and phytochemical compounds in modulating of bacterial flora and prevention/treatment of inflammation bowel diseases

Author(s)

Cibele Lima de Albuquerque

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: Campinas, SP.
• Institution: Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Biologia
• Defense date: 2010-01-22

Examining board members

Alba Regina Monteiro Souza Brito; Clélia Akiko Hiruma Lima; Claudio Saddy Rodrigues Coy; Claudio Cesar Zoppi; Maira Cola

• Advisor: Elisangela Farias Silva; Alba Regina Monteiro Souza Brito

Abstract

Despite the range of therapeutic possibilities, there is still no ideal treatment for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), with the right profile of efficacy and safety. For this reason, it is of great interest to study agents with little side effect, as a nutraceutical, on the treatment/prevention of such diseases. In this context, emerged the interest in studying kale and papaya plants with high content of carotenoids and dietary fiber, in addition to low cost and their common use in the diet of Brazilians. It is known that antioxidants and short chain fatty acids (SCFA), especially butyric acid, obtained from the fermentation of dietary fiber, may be involved in the prevention and treatment of intestinal diseases. The butyric acid is a substrate for the repair of inflamed tissue and inhibits pro-inflammatory factors; for that reason, to quantify the production of this acid is mandatory, given that the higher the production, the greater the efficiency of the diet for tissue recovery. Therefore, an in vitro analysis showed that the dose of 0.3 g of kale with 0.2 g of papaya was the one that produced the greatest amount of butyrate. The data was obtained by ion chromatography readings, methodology standardized and validated by the research group. After choosing the proportion of the vegetables, the next step was an in vivo study. At first, the action of the mixture in the modulation of bacterial flora was checked in healthy rats, as well as in rats with colitis induced by trinitrobenzenosulfonic acid (TNBS), by the increase on the number of colonies of beneficial bacteria and the reduction on the number of potentially pathogenic bacteria colonies. Studies have demonstrated that the prebiotic effect is beneficial in the prevention or improvement of the different signs and symptoms involved in IBD. This was confirmed by this study, since the treatment of the affected rats with the mixture that showed prebiotic effect was able to exert intestinal anti-inflammatory effect, since the treated animals showed lower scores of the lesion and reduced some pro-inflammatory mediators such as TNF-a, IL-1ß, MPO activity and iNOS expression. The same results were not observed when the animals were treated with the isolated plants. It can be concluded that the mixture of kale and papaya showed ability to modulate the intestinal flora in both healthy rats and in rats with experimental colitis induced by TNBS, whereas this prebiotic effect was accompanied by recovery of intestinal inflammation in rats with colitis and that there was a synergistic action of the active components of kale and papaya, when these are combined. (AU)