Caffeic acid can effectively inhibit colitis.

Recently, researchers have found that the increased expression of a cellular respiratory enzyme (CYP4B1) is an important indicator that caffeic acid can inhibit colitis in mice. Caffeic acid is an anti-inflammatory antioxidant commonly found in food.

The findings are published in the June 2009 issue of Experimental Biology and Medicine. CYP4B1 is a cellular respiratory enzyme that has been reported in other models to be associated with the regression of allergic inflammation. Tissue damage in colitis has been pathologically observed that caffeic acid treatment can inhibit colitis and is associated with returning CYP4B1 to normal expression. Compared with rutin, a bioflavonoid, and an African potato extract (hypoxoside), all three substances have anti-inflammatory effects, inhibit the production of bone marrow peroxidase, IL-17, and iNOS, and increase the amount of IL-4, which are all related to inflammation, but only caffeic acid can protect colitis induced by glucan sulfate. This novel mechanism is related to CYP4B1, and research is under way. The team fed 8-week-old mice a diet containing the above ingredients and then given low doses of glucan sulfate to induce colitis. The study of caffeic acid allows us to further study the role and mechanism of medicinal plants or plant foods in inhibiting colitis, or in colon cancer, because colitis also increases the risk of this cancer.

In summary, a return to normal performance of CYP4B1, a drug metabolite, is associated with inhibition of inflammation-induced injury. It can be used as an indicator of the effective effect of caffeic acid, which is commonly found in plant foods in the human diet. It can inhibit small intestinal tissue damage in the way mice stimulate colitis. The research of Hendrich and colleagues can help us design more effective treatments to prevent or reduce colitis in the future.