Acacetin ameliorates experimental colitis in mice via regulating the composition of gut microbiota

Acacetin, a natural dietary flavonoid abundantly found in acacia honey and citrus fruits, has been reported possessing multiple biological properties, such as anti-tumor, anti-inflammation and anti-oxidation. However, the effects of acacetin on intestinal inflammation remains uncovered. We sought to investigate whether acacetin ameliorates inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced ulcerative colitis (UC) mice. Our study suggested that acacetin alleviated the clinical symptoms of DSS-induced colitis as determined by body weight loss, diarrhea, colon shortening, inflammatory infiltration and histological injury. Further studies showed that acacetin remarkably inhibited the macrophage inflammatory response in vitro and the levels of inflammatory mediators in colitis mice. In addition, the gut microbiota was disordered in DSS colitis mice, which was associated with a significant decrease in microbiota diversity and a great shift in bacteria profiles; however, acacetin treatment improved the imbalance of gut microbiota and made it similar to that in normal mice. In conclusion, our work presented evidence that acacetin attenuated DSS-induced colitis in mouse, at least in part, via inhibition of inflammation and regulating intestinal microbiota.