Tauroursodeoxycholate improves 2,4,6-trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid-induced experimental acute ulcerative colitis in mice

•Tauroursodeoxycholate, a conjugate bile acid was able to ameliorate the TNBS induced colitis in mice.•Tauroursodeoxycholate showed anti-inflammatory properties by down-regulation of TNF-α, IFN-γ and IL-1β, MPO.•The drug may be promising lead to be developed as anti-ulcerative drug.

Ulcerative colitis is a chronic nonspecific inflammatory disease of unknown cause. The aim of this study was to evaluate the anti-inflammatory effect of tauroursodeoxycholate in 2, 4, 6-trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid-induced experimental colitis in mice. After the induction of colitis for 24 h, the mice were administrated orally with tauroursodeoxycholate (20, 40 and 60 mg/kg) and sulfasalazine (500 mg/kg) by gavage for 7 consecutive days. The inhibition effects were evaluated by the body of weight change, survival rate, macroscopical and histological evaluations. Besides, myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity, interleukin (IL)-1β, interferon (IFN)-γ and tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in colon tissue were also determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Treatment with different doses of tauroursodeoxycholate (20, 40 and 60 mg/kg) significantly improved the body weight change, decreased the macroscopic and histopathological scores. Compared with the model group, the accumulation of MPO activity, the colonic tissue levels of IL-1β, IFN-γ and TNF-α were significantly reduced in the tauroursodeoxycholate treated groups. Moreover, tauroursodeoxycholate assuaged the symptoms of colitis. These results suggested that tauroursodeoxycholate has an anti-inflammatory effect in TNBS-induced ulcerative colitis in mice.