Regulation of gut microbiota and alleviation of DSS-induced colitis by vitexin

PurposeVitexin is one of the flavonoids in millet and has a variety of biological activities. However, the function of vitexin on colitis is not clear. This research studied the regulation of vitexin on colitis and investigated the possible mechanisms.MethodsAn in vitro fermentation model was used to evaluate the regulation of vitexin on gut microbiota of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). At the same time, an acute colitis mice model induced by dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) was used to evaluate the effects of vitexin on intestinal inflammation, barrier and gut microbiota.ResultsIn this study, it was found that vitexin altered the structure of gut microbiota by decreasing harmful bacteria, such as Veillonella, Terrisporobacter, Klebsiella, Paeniclostridium, and increasing beneficial bacteria, such as Parabacteroides, Flavonifractor, Blautia after in vitro fermentation with the feces of colitis patients. Further, DSS-induced colitis mice models revealed that vitexin treatment significantly improved colitis symptoms, maintained intestinal barrier and down-regulated the expression of inflammatory factors, such as IL-1 & beta; and TNF-& alpha;. In addition, vitexin also improved the diversity of gut microbiota of colitis mice by decreasing the abundance of harmful bacteria.ConclusionThis research suggested that vitexin could alleviate colitis by regulating gut microbiota and attenuated gut inflammation.