APHAMAX® ATTENUATES INFLAMMATORY AND OXIDATIVE STRESS IN 2, 4-DINITROBENZENE SULFONIC ACID-INDUCED COLITIS IN RAT AMELIORATING INTESTINAL FUNCTIONALITY

Accumulating evidences indicate that inflammatory and oxidative stress play an essential role in the pathogenesis and progression of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). In IBD the excessive production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitrogen metabolites contribute to tissue injury and could have also a profound impact on gut functions, including motility. We characterised the inflammatory and oxidative condition and the impact on colon motility in an experimental rat model of colitis, the 2, 4-dinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (DNBS)- induced colitis, and we evaluated if oral treatment with a nat- ural extract of Aphanizomenon flos-aquae (AFA) AphaMax®, containing concentrated quantity of AFA-phycocyanins(PCs), compound with a significantly higher antioxidant power than other PCs, can attenuate the inflammatory and oxidative stress and help to recover intestinal motor functionality. Inflamed preparations from DNBS induced colitis rats showed an increase of different inflammatory markers, as MPO activity, a biochemical index for neutrophil infiltration, an increase in the expression of pro inflammatory cytokines and in the levels of marker of oxidative stress as ROS and Nitrites. Inflamed preparations showed also macroscopic and microscopic tissue damages and a marked hypocontractility, as recorded invitro in colonic longitudinal muscle. AphaMax® downregulated in a dose-dependent manner colonic expression of cytokines, IL-1β, IL-6 and iNOS, the activity of MPO and improved anti-oxidant system, inhibiting also NF-κ B activation. The colon injury and the colonic contractility in inflamed tissues were also improved by AphaMax® treatment. Our data reveal that in DNBS-rat model an intense oxidative insult would contribute to tissue damage during chronic intestinal inflammation and that AphaMax®- treatment was able to modulate the redox status by scavenging ROS and reducing the severity of the colitis, contributing also to the recovery of colonic muscle functionality