Alleviation of Irritable Bowel Syndrome-Like Symptoms and Control of Gut and Brain Responses with Oral Administration of Dolichos lablab L. in a Mouse Model

Abstract

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common gastrointestinal disorder manifesting as unexplained abdominal pain and bowel habit changes. The pathogenesis of post-infectious IBS is associated with gut–brain axis dysfunction, including low-grade colonic inflammation and anxiety-related long-term brain changes. This study analyzed the efficacy of a standardized extract of Dolichos lablab L. extract (DL), a bean species, in an IBS mouse model resembling post-infectious, diarrhea-dominant IBS. Using a zymosan-induced animal IBS model, we found that oral administration of DL significantly attenuated zymosan-induced increases in colonic macroscopic scores and minimized weight loss without affecting food intake. In the DL-treated mice, the mast cell count and tumor necrosis factor-α level in the colon markedly decreased, similar to results in sulfasalazine-treated mice and in mice with lipopolysaccharide-stimulated bone marrow-derived mast cells. The number of visceral pain-related behaviors was much lower in the DL-treated mice. Anxiety-like behaviors significantly improved, comparable to that after treatment with amitriptyline. The c-Fos expression level in the prefrontal cortex was significantly reduced. Our data suggest that DL could be beneficial for treating IBS by acting on the gut and brain.

Efficient Stool Collection Methods for Evaluating the Diarrhea Score in Mouse Diarrhea Models

“…However, considering that most mouse experiments do not deal with a small number of mice, but a large number of mice, it is not that practical. Another accurate way would be to evaluate the stool in the rectum or the large bowel after sacrificing the mouse (67)(68)(69). However, it can only evaluate the diarrhea score once per mouse, and serial evaluations over several days are difficult.…”

Animal Models for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders

“…Zymosan and mustard oil sensitized the mechanoreceptor and other neurons present in the colonic wall which persisted after the inflammatory phase ( 176 , 177 ). Both Zymosan and mustard oil, induced neuronal changes in the spinal cord and the brain by increasing the neuronal excitability as shown by an increased presence of c-FOS positive neurons ( 178 ). The latter was associated with an altered expression pattern in the NMDA receptors in females which might be responsible for the female predominance in visceral sensitization following the mustard oil model ( 179 ).…”

Dietary Bean Consumption and Human Health

“…Two papers in the Special Issue considered the nutritional aspects of bean (iron [24] and protein [18]), and others focused on gut health [16] and chronic disease (obesity) [22]. Of the other 12 papers not in this Special Issue, 9 were placed in this domain, and the topics covered included iron nutrition [12,15,25], effects on muscle strength [9], gut health [10,11,19], glycemic index [28], and metabolic syndrome [20].…”

“…Eight of these papers are collected in this Special Issue. In order to guide the reader interested in the topic of pulses and human health, the references to all 20 papers are provided [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]. These publications can be grouped into three primary domains that are judged to be critical to understanding the multi-dimensional framework underlying pulse consumption and human health.…”