MICI: Ionone Beta supplementation repairs the intestinal barrier

In practice, research shows that β-ionone can relieve the symptoms of ulcerative colitis in mice. Ulcerative colitis is an immune-mediated disease characterized by chronic inflammation of the colon. It is associated with dysbiosis of the intestinal microbiota, dysfunction of the intestinal barrier and an imbalance in immune responses.

Current treatments, including steroids and immunosuppressants, can cause side effects such as infections and organ damage. There is therefore an urgent need for safer and more effective therapies.

Numerous studies have shown that microbial balance and intestinal integrity are 2 major factors in intestinal health.

The study specifies the preventive effects of β-ionone against ulcerative colitis in mouse models of colitis model induced by dextran sodium sulfate. This compound causes significant symptoms, including weight loss, diarrhea, and mucosal damage. Experience shows that:

• treatment with β-ionone provides improved clinical results, including a reduction in disease activity, a reduction in weight loss, and also less retraction of the colon;
• histological analysis shows that the supplementation significantly reduces the infiltration of inflammatory cells and mucosal damage;
• supplementation also effectively reduces the elevated expression of TNF-α and IL-8 characteristic of colitis;
• supplementation attenuates oxidative damage, restoring the activity of antioxidant enzymes;
• supplementation influences lipid metabolism, restoring abnormal serum lipid levels;

• finally, it restores the intestinal barrier,

• improving mucin secretion and increasing the expression of “tight junction proteins”;
• it reshapes the intestinal microbiota, restoring the diversity and composition of intestinal microbes altered by the disease.

Thus, this work provides multiple evidence – in mice – of the effectiveness of β-ionone in relieving the symptoms of ulcerative colitis by protecting the intestinal barrier and modulating the intestinal microbiota.

Future clinical trials will have to confirm these advantages in humans, with, if confirmed, the prospect of an alternative to current drug treatments.