Effect of kale and papaya supplementation in colitis induced by trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid in the rat

SummaryBackground & aimsPapaya and kale are usual vegetables in the Brazilian diet that have antioxidant activity. This study proposed to evaluate the effect of dried vegetables as a prebiotic and as an intestinal anti-inflammatory in the rat colitis model.MethodsRats received, orally, 500 mg/kg of rat weight of three treatments of dried vegetables: papaya, kale and the mixture of both vegetables (60% of kale plus 40% of papaya). In the prebiotic study, after two weeks of treatment, bacteria counts were determined. In the anti-inflammatory study, after the two weeks of treatment, colitis was induced by intracolonic administration of trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (TNBS), and one week after, damage score and biochemical parameters were evaluated.ResultsOnly the administration of the mixture was able to modulate the bacterial flora in healthy rats, as well as in rats with colitis induced by TNBS. In addition, the mixture showed intestinal antiinflammatory effect in the colitic rats. This effect was evidenced by a reduction in damage score, by the colonic iNOS expression downregulated, by the decrease in the production of the TNFα and IL-1β and by the decrease in the MPO activity.ConclusionThe combination of both vegetables showed prebiotic and anti-inflammatory effects in the TNBS model of rat colitis, when compared to each single vegetable alone.