Therapeutic effects of curcumin on constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome is associated with modulating gut microbiota and neurotransmitters

Xiaoting Tu; Hongyan Ren; Shurui Bu

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2023.1274559

Therapeutic effects of curcumin on constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome is associated with modulating gut microbiota and neurotransmitters

Front Microbiol. 2023 Dec 14:14:1274559. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1274559. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Xiaoting Tu¹, Hongyan Ren², Shurui Bu¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Gastroenterology, Jinshan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
² Shanghai Mobio Biomedical Technology Co. Ltd., Shanghai, China.

Abstract

Introduction: Constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-C) is a functional bowel disease that affects 10-20% of the population worldwide. Curcumin (CUR) is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat IBS, but its mechanism of action needs further investigation.

Methods: In this study, we used mosapride (MOS) as a positive control to evaluate the changes in gut microbiota in IBS-C rat models after treatment with CUR or MOS by analyzing 16S rDNA variation. In addition, we used enzyme immunoassay kits and immunohistochemical analysis to investigate whether CUR or MOS influenced serotonin (5-HT), substance P (SP), and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) levels in the serum and colon of IBS-C rats.

Results: The study showed that rats supplemented with CUR showed significantly increased fecal weight, fecal water content, small intestine transit rate and significantly decreased serum levels of 5-HT, VIP and SP compared to the IBS group (p < 0.05). In addition, treatment with CUR changed the relative abundance of Blautia, Sutterella, Acetanaerobacterium and Ruminococcus2 in the gut microbiota.

Discussion: This study showed that the efficacy of CUR on IBS-C was possibly by modulating the microbiota and lowering the serum levels of HT, SP, and VIP.

Keywords: constipation; curcumin; gut microbiota; irritable bowel syndrome; neurotransmitters.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by grants from Shanghai Science and Technology Commission (grant no. 16411972100).