Fol. Biol. 2008, 54, 1-7
Effects of Borneol and Thymoquinone on TNBS-Induced Colitis in Mice
Components of plant essential oils have been reported to have health benefit properties, including antioxidative, anti-tumour, antimicrobial, anti-stress, and immunomodulative activities. We examined the anti-inflammatory effects of thymoquinone, the active ingredient in the volatile oil of Nigella sativa seeds, and borneol, the active component of Salvia officinalis essential oil, on TNBS-induced colitis in mice. Thymoquinone was added to the commercial diet at a concentration of 0.05 % and borneol at two concentrations (0.09% and 0.18%) and fed to ICR mice 5 days before induction of TNBS colitis. Seven days after TNBS administration the mice were killed and macroscopic and histological scores were evaluated. Cytokine mRNA expression in colonic tissue was assessed using quantitative real-time RT-PCR. We did not detect any significant changes in macroscopic and histological scores between experimental and control groups, but we observed a significant decrease in proinflammatory cytokine (IL-1β and IL-6) mRNA expression in colon tissue in the 0.09% and 0.18% borneol-treated groups of mice in comparison to the control group. Surprisingly, we were not able to confirm anti-inflammatory effects of thymoquinone in TNBS colitis. In conclusion, our data show that borneol is able to significantly suppress proinflammatory cytokine mRNA expression in colonic inflammation, although no significant morphological changes are visible.
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Funding
This work was supported by the Slovak Research and Development Agency under contract No. APVT-51-015404 and by the State Program of Science and Development (SP 51/028 09 00/028 09 06).
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Copyright
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
