Effects of food rich in polyphenols in a model of chronic colitis

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, are very common diseases in the western world, but recently their occurrence has increased also in the developing world, possibly for the adoption of western dietary habits. Several factors have been implicated in the their pathogenesis and effective dietary recommendations are currently not available. The goal of the present study was to verify whether foods with various polyphenolic content, might control inflammatory processes at the level of the intestinal mucosa of HLA-B27 transgenic rats, spontaneously developing colitis. We observed that some varieties of apples and strawberries significantly reduced diarrhoea and several markers of inflammation. Extra virgin olive oil does not possess inflammatory properties in this model; however, a whole-genome expression analysis performed on the colon mucosa of olive oil-fed rats, revealed an unexpected effect on cholesterol levels and synthesis.