Lycopene Protects the Cells of Large Intestine Against colitis

By Kyle J. Norton

Colitis is medical a condition characterized by the inflammation of the large intestine, including the colon, caecum, and rectum.

Depending on the causes, colitis can be classified into microscopic colitis, ischemic colitis, segmental colitis associated with diverticula, radiation colitis, diversion colitis, eosinophilic colitis, and Behcet's colitis, particularly in those associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), such as ulcerative colitis (UC).
* Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is the inflammation of chronic inflammation of the digestive tract associated with symptoms of severe diarrhea, abdominal pain, fatigue, and weight loss.

* Microscopic colitis is a disease involved in the inflammation of the colon or large intestine, associated with symptoms of watery diarrhea and cramping. Microscopic colitis is much less severe than other types of inflammatory bowel disease.

* Ischemic colitis is an inflammation of the large intestine caused by the injury-induced inadequate blood supply to the colon, leading to pain on the left side of the abdomen.

* Segmental colitis associated with diverticula is an inflammation that affects colonic luminal mucosa in segments due to diverticulosis, causing symptoms of bloody stools, sometimes accompanied by abdominal pain, cramping discomfort, or diarrhea.

* Radiation colitis is an inflammation of the large intestines in patients with radiation therapy, leading to symptoms of diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and stomach cramps.

* Diversion colitis is an inflammation of the large intestines as a complication of ileostomy or colostomy. Most cases of diversion colitis often occur within the year following the surgery.

* Eosinophilic colitis is a rare disease associated with a type of white blood cell, due to injury and inflammation to the large intestine.

* Behcet's colitis is chronic immune-mediated, inflammatory disorders that only affect the intestines but also the joints, skin, eyes, and biliary tracts.

Conventionally, colitis caused by infection is treated by antibiotics. However, treatment of non-infection colitis is focusing on symptoms relief, supportive care, and maintaining adequate hydration and pain control.

Most common tools used for the colitis diagnosis are X-rays of the colon, testing the stool for blood and pus, sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy.

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 inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), researchers examined the role of lycopene in a rat model of colitis induced by acetic acid.

Selected rats included in the study were randomly divided into the following five groups: the control group, colitis group, colitis + sulfasalazine group as a positive control group, colitis + lycopene and lycopene groups.

According to the chemical analysis, malondialdehyde (MDA) associated with stress marker, total sialic acid and DNA fragmentation levels associated with inflammatory expression were significantly higher in the colitis group.

Furthermore, the levels of antioxidant enzymes in the colitis group were lower comapred to the control group.

However, treatments with lycopene in the colitis group not only decreased MDA, total sialic acid and DNA fragmentation levels but also increased the levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD), total antioxidant status (TAS), and CPN, the body's inbuilt defensive mechanism against noxious responses or inflammation.

Moreover, Fe deficiency found in 1/3 patients with IBD were also increased significantly by the lycopene injection.

Based on the findings, researchers said, "Treatment with lycopene ameliorated the biochemical and pathological alterations caused by colitis.".

Taken altogether, lycopene found in tomato may be considered supplements for the prevention and treatment of colitis, pending on the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Intake of lycopene in the form of supplement 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) Lycopene Ameliorates Experimental Colitis in Rats via Reducing Apoptosis and Oxidative Stress by Gul Baykalir B1, Aksit D1,2, Dogru MS3, Hanım Yay A4, Aksit H1,2, Seyrek K5, Attesahin A. (PubMed)