Exploring the ameliorative potential of Bacopa monnieri in acetic acid induced ulcerative colitis in mice

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the role of Bacopa monnieri in acetic-acid-induced ulcerative colitis in mice. Acetic acid (3%v/v, in 0.9% saline) was infused intrarectally to induce ulceration in mice. Administration of acetic acid resulted in severe inflammation of the colon along with an increase in the myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity assessed on 7^th day. Treatment with Bacopa monnieri extract (20 mg/kg and 40 mg/kg, p.o) and saponin-rich fraction (5 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg; p.o) for 7 days i.e. 2 days before and 5 days after acetic acid infusion, significantly attenuated the colonic inflammation in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, it also reduced the MPO levels and the disease activity score as compared to the control group. It may be concluded that Bacopa monnieri has the potential for ameliorating acetic-acid-induced colitis and its saponin-rich fraction may be responsible for this effect.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Bacopa monnieri
• acetic acid
• ulcerative colitis
• myeloperoxidase

Acknowledgement

The authors are grateful to Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Drug Research for providing facilities to conduct research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

KD: conducted the animal study and wrote the manuscript. AB: conducted the biochemical study and compile results. PB: conducted histopathology and analyzed the results. NS: conducted Macroscopic evaluation of colon. ASJ: designed the experiment, analyzed results and finalized the manuscript

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.