Evaluation of potential effect of Lactobacillus paracasei subsp. paracasei NTU 101 powder on dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis of murine model

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) mainly consists of ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD), and the pathogenesis of IBDs is still unclear. The interactions between immunologic, genetic, and environmental factors with intestinal microflora may contribute to the development of IBDs. However, imbalance of intestinal commensal microbiota is well-recognized as a pathogenic factors contributing to the development of IBDs. Since many previous studies have shown that some strains of lactic acid bacteria can directly or indirectly to influence the immunnoregulation through modulate and activate dentric cells, this concept that the use of probiotics could have some beneficial effect as the alternative therapy clinically had been extensively perfomed in clinical aspects. Lactobacillus paracasei subsp. paracasei NTU 101 has been proven to show anti-oxidative stress and anti-inflammatory effects in in vitro studies with the capacity to promote intestinal symbiosis and modulate immune responses in in vivo studies, and these factors has been identified to associate with pathogenesis of IBD. Consequently, this study determine the effect of NTU 101 on clinical symptoms, oxidative stress, and inflammation caused by colitis in mice. The murine colitis in this study was induced by the dextran sulfate sodium (DSS), which is one of the most commonly used animal model in colitis. When transited to the colon site in animal, DSS can interrupt the epithelial barrier function, lead to gut leakage, and finally elicit continuous chronic inflammation with intestinal bleeding. Lactobacillus paracasei subsp. paracasei NTU 101 is a proven multi-effect probiotic strain. In this study, the efficacy of Lactobacillus paracasei subsp. paracasei NTU 101 powder was studied against DSS-induced colitis in mice. Colitis was induced by 2.0% DSS in drinking water for 7 days and the mice were treated with 5.0 × 108 CFU/kg BW/day of the NTU 101 powder for 25 days, and after the induction of colitis, disease activity were monitored daily until the end of experiment. The results indicated that the NTU 101 powder improved anti-oxidant capacity, reduced pro-inflammatory cytokine level, increased the anti-inflammatory cytokine, and slightly ameliorated body weight loss in the DSS-treated mice during the last days in this study, which indicated that the NTU 101 powder can relieve clinical symptoms in DSS-induced colitis in mice.