Lycopene Processes Anti Ulcerative Colitis Activity, Scientists Say

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a type of inflammatory bowel disease induced chronic inflammation and ulcers (sores) in the digestive tract.

The other type of IBD is Crohn's disease, caused by inflammation of the lining of the digestive tract, other than the colon and rectum.

IBS affects the colon and the rectum, leading to bloody diarrhea accompanied by symptoms of belly pain, not feeling hungry, fatigue, weight loss, dehydration.

Some patients may also experience symptoms of joint pain or soreness and sudden urges to empty the colon right away.

Inflammation is a process of the immune system that responds to harmful pathogens.

Inflammation can be acute or chronic. In the acute phase of infection, the immune system after receiving information from the neurons, macrophages, the largest white blood cells in the first line of defense stimulate the production of blood palette to cover the wound and the production of inflammatory cytokines to kill off micro-organisms, leading to symptoms of fever, redness, and swelling.

The UC is caused by the immune system mistakenly attacks the cell of the colon, leading to low-grade inflammation.

According to the statistic, in the US, approximately, 1.6 million Americans are living with inflammatory bowel disease, including 907,000 people with ulcerative colitis.

More precisely, the risk of people diagnosed with ulcerative colitis per 100,000 person-years is between 2 and 14.

Conventionally, the treatment of UC is focused on reduced symptoms and prevent the fare up. In some cases, surgery may be necessary if the medication fails.

The exact causes of UC are not identified. Many prevalent factors are associated with UC, including aging, ethnicity, and family. However, some researchers suggested that the promotion of a high-fat diet over the past few decades may have a strong implication in inducing the rise of ulcerative colitis.

Dr. Patricia Sarlos, the lead scientist in the study of the genetic preposition in the risk of UC, wrote, " Ulcerative colitis (UC) is one of the main types of inflammatory bowel disease, which is caused by dysregulated immune responses in genetically predisposed individuals".

And, "Several genetic factors, including interleukin and interleukin receptor gene polymorphisms and other inflammation-related genes play a central role in mediating and modulating the inflammation in the human body, thereby these can be the main cause of development of the disease.".

The results strongly link the risk of IBD in people who process the mutated gene inherited from the parent

Lycopene is a phytochemical found in tomato in the class of carotenoid, a natural pigment with no vitamin A activity found abundantly in tomatoes and other red fruits and vegetables, such as red carrots, watermelons, and papayas,

Tomatoes provide about 80% of the lycopene in the world diet. In plants, lycopene protects the host against excessive photodamage and performs various functions in photosynthesis.

On finding a potential compound for the treatment of colitis researchers examined the protective effects of conventional and colon-targeted lycopene (TLC) and linalool (TLN) on acetic acid (AA)-induced ulcerative colitis (UC) in an animal model.

The study included conventional and colon-targeted LC (10 mg/kg) and LN (200 mg/kg) that were administered in vivo orally for 7 days and sulfasalazine (100 mg/kg) was also used as the reference drug, following by 4% AA to induce rats UC.

Based on the tested analysis, the levels of stress marker such as malondialdehyde (MDA), pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin 1β (IL-1β), IL-6, cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) levels were decreased in the both targeted groups compared to the AA group.

Levels of nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf-2) associated with the increased antioxidant enzymes produced by the host was also increased compared to control.

Furthermore, Tumor necrosis factor, a cell-signaling protein (cytokine) involved in systemic inflammation was significantly decreased and catalase activity (CAT) associated with levels of antioxidants increased in the TLC group, compared to the AA group

The results strongly suggested conventional and colon-targeted lycopene showed a significant effect in the reduced risk of UC.

Based on the findings, researchers said, "sulfasalazine was effective on all parameters analyzed, but the colon-targeted pretreatments were more effective from sulfasalazine on some parameters. Therefore, colon-targeted plant-derived therapies might be alternative approaches to provide protection against UC".

Taken altogether, lycopene found in tomato combined with conventional medicine may be considered a remedy for the prevention and treatment of UC, pending on the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Intake of lycopene in the form of supplements should be taken with extreme care to prevent overdose acute liver toxicity.

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) Protective effects of conventional and colon-targeted lycopene and linalool on ulcerative colitis induced by acetic acid in rats by Tekeli İO1, Ateşşahin A2, Sakin F3, Aslan A4, Çeribaşı S5, Yipel M. (PubMed)
(2) Genetic update on inflammatory factors in ulcerative colitis: Review of the current literature by Patricia Sarlos, Erzsebet Kovesdi, Lili Magyari, Zsolt Banfai, Andras Szabo, Andras Javorhazy, and Bela Melegh. (PMC)