An experimental study on ulcerative colitis as a potential target for probiotic therapy by Lactobacillus acidophilus with or without “olsalazine”

Traditional medical treatments for ulcerative colitis (UC) are still compromised by its adverse effects and not potent enough to keep in remission for long-term periods. So, new therapies that are targeted at specific disease mechanisms have the potential to provide more effective and safe treatments for ulcerative colitis. Probiotics is recently introduced as a therapy for ulcerative colitis. In the present study, Lactobacillus acidophilus was selected as a probiotic therapy to investigate its effects in oxazolone-induced colitis model in rats that mimics the picture in human. The rats were grouped (8 rats each) as normal control group (Group I), Group II served as untreated oxazolone-induced colitis, Group III oxazolone-induced colitis treated with probiotic L. acidophilus (1 × 107 colony-forming units (CFU)/mL/day oral for 14 days), Group IV oxazolone-induced colitis treated with olsalazine (60 mg/kg/day oral for 14 days), Group V oxazolone-induced colitis treated with probiotic L. acidophilus and olsalazine in the same doses and duration. Disease activity index (DAI) was recorded, serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and intrleukin-6 (IL-6) was assessed as inflammatory markers and the histopathological picture of the colon of each rat was studied. Disease activity index (DAI) showed significant positive correlation with the elevated serum levels of CRP (r = 0.741, p < 0.05), TNF-α (r = 0.802, p < 0.05) and IL-6 (r = 0.801, p < 0.05). Treatment with either L. acidophilus (group III) or olsalazine (group IV) resulted in significant reduction in serum levels of CRP, TNF-α and IL-6, as well as disease activity index (DAI). Treatment with combination of L. acidophilus and olsalazine (group V) offered more significant reduction in serum levels of CRP, TNF-α, IL-6 and disease activity index (DAI) when compared to either group II (untreated group), group III (treated with L. acidophilus) or group IV (treated with olsalazine). So, it was concluded that L. acidophilus probiotic could be recommended as adjuvant therapy in combination with olsalazine to achieve more effective treatment for ulcerative colitis. For application in human, this needs to be verified in further clinical studies.