Lycopene ameliorates experimental colitis in rats via reducing apoptosis and oxidative stress

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an inflammatory disorder involving the gastrointestinal tract and ulcerative colitis. Lycopene is a natural product occurring carotenoid has attracted considerable attention as a potential chemopreventive agent.The impact of lycopene on colitis is currently unknown. This study was conducted to investigate the protective effects of lycopene on acetic acid induced experimental colitis in rats. Animals were randomly divided into 5 groups; the control, colitis, sulfasalazine-treated group as a positive control group, colitis plus lycopene and lycopene treated groups. Animals received lycopene (10 mg/kg, gavage) and sulfasalazine (100 mg/kg, gavage) for 7 consecutive days before induction of colitis by intra-colonic acetic acid (3%, v/v). Some oxidative stress parameters were evaluated in serum and colon samples. And Induction of colitis caused to pathological and biochemical alterations in rat colon.The rates of apoptosis were determined by Bax, Bcl-2 and TUNEL immunostaining positive cell number. In colitis group, while the malondialdehyde (MDA), total cialic acid and DNA fragmentation levels increased significantly, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, ceruloplasmin (CPN), iron (Fe) and total antioxidant status (TAS) levels decreased in both serum and colon tissues. The tissue MDA and DNA fragmentation levels were reduced, SOD activity and TAS level were increased significantly in colitis treated lycopene. Also rates of apoptosis increased concomitantly with the levels of oxidants in colitis group. Administration of lycopene ameliorated the biochemical and pathological alterations caused by colitis. The findings of present study provide evidence that lycopene may be beneficial in rats with inflammatory bowel disease.