Introduction: Carbon 60 (C60) and its derivatives have various biological applications. In our laboratory, we have demonstrated that C60 dissolved in grape seed oil (C60-Oil) has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties; however, the effectiveness of this formulation to treat diseases of the intestinal tract and specifically ulcerative colitis has not been studied. In this study, we intend to explore the effects of C60-Oil against experimental ulcerative colitis induced by Dextran Sulfate Sodium (DSS) in rats and a human colorectal cell line, HT-29.
Methods: The rats were randomly distributed into three groups: a negative control group with no induced damage and two other groups were treated with DSS to induce UC for seven days: one as untreated control and the other group treated with C60-Oil 3 mg/kg/day. We quantified the clinical manifestations of the disease, body weight, colon weight, microscopic damage score, and colonic content of IL-6, TNF-alpha, IL-1B, and IL-10. As part of the cell studies, HT-29 cells were pretreated with C60-Oil at different concentrations (0.1, 1, 5, 10, 50, 30 μg/mL) and then stimulated with DSS (10 μg/mL). We measured the levels of IL-8 and NO secreted in the medium and the intracellular levels of ROS.
Results: Oral treatment with C60-Oil significantly prevented the change in body weight, reduced most of the clinical signs of the disease, colon weight, microscopic damage score, and considerably improved the profile of cytokines analyzed. The pretreatment of HT-29 cells also protected the cells from the action of DSS as it reduced the levels of IL-8, NO, and ROS.
Conclusion: According to our results, we can suggest C60-Oil, as a formulation with pharmacological potential for treating ulcerative colitis.
Keywords: carbon 60, DSS, experimental colitis, inflammation, oxidative stress