effects of a combination of thyme and oregano essential oils on tnbs-induced colitis in mice百里香和牛至精油的效果在老鼠tnbs-induced结肠炎.pdfVIP

Hindawi Publishing Corporation Mediators of Inflammation Volume 2007, Article ID 23296, 9 pages doi:10.1155/2007/23296 Research Article Effects of a Combination of Thyme and Oregano Essential Oils on TNBS-Induced Colitis in Mice ˇ ˇ ˇ ´ ˇ ´ ´ ´ Alexandra Bukovska, Stefan Cikos, Stefan Juhas, Gabriela Il’kova, Pavol Rehak, and Juraj Koppel ˇ Institute of Animal Physiology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Soltesovej 4-6, 04001 Kosice, Slovakia ´ ˇ Correspondence should be addressed to Juraj Koppel, koppel@saske.sk Received 11 June 2007; Accepted 22 August 2007 We examined the anti-inflammatory effects of the combination of thyme and oregano essential oil dietary administered at three concentrations (0.4% thyme and 0.2% oregano oils; 0.2% thyme and 0.1% oregano oils; 0.1% thyme and 0.05% oregano oils) on mice with TNBS-induced colitis. Treatment of colitic animals with the essential oils decreased the mRNA levels of pro- inflammatory cytokines IL-1β, IL-6, GM-CSF, and TNFα, especially after application of the medium dose. The medium dose of the essential oils significantly lowered the amount of IL-1β and IL-6 proteins too. Moreover, administration of the medium dose decreased the mortality rate, accelerated the body weight gain recovery, and reduced the macroscopic damage of the colonic tissue. Our results indicate that combined treatment with appropriate concentrations of thyme and oregano essential oils can reduce the production of proinflammatory cytokines, and thereby attenuat