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Qianru Hui, Faith Omonijo, Shangxi Liu, Hua Zhang, Ludovic Lahaye, Jean-Christophe Bodin, Joshua Gong, Martin Nyachoti, Chengbo Yang, 94 Essential oils improve barrier function and attenuate inflammatory responses in porcine intestinal epithelial cells, Journal of Animal Science, Volume 97, Issue Supplement_3, December 2019, Pages 78–79, https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skz258.162
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Abstract
Thymol has been known as a functional phytochemical isolated from thyme essential oils and possesses antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory properties. In this study, an in vitro lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation model using IPEC-J2 cell line was established to evaluate the inflammatory responses after thymol treatment. Cells were pre-treated with thymol for 1 h followed by LPS stimulation. Interleukin 8 (IL-8) secretion, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, mRNA abundance of two pro-inflammatory cytokines, nutrient transporters, and tight junction proteins, transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) and cell permeability were measured. The localization of zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1) and β-actin were also detected by immunofluorescent staining. The results showed that LPS stimulation increased IL-8 secretion, ROS production, and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) mRNA abundance (P < 0.05), but the mRNA abundance of sodium-dependent glucose transporter 1 (SGLT1), excitatory amino acid transporter 1 (EAAC1) and H+/peptide cotransporter 1 (PepT1) were decreased (P < 0.05). However, thymol blocked ROS production (P < 0.05) and tended to decrease the production of LPS-induced IL-8 secretion (P = 0.0766). The mRNA abundance of IL-8 and TNF-α was reduced by thymol pre-treatment (P < 0.05), but thymol was unable to improve the gene expression of nutrient transporters (P > 0.05). TEER was reduced and cell permeability was increased after LPS stimulation (P < 0.05), but these effects were attenuated by thymol pre-treatment (P < 0.05). Moreover, thymol boosted ZO-1 and β-actin staining in the cells, but the mRNA abundance of ZO-1 and occludin-3 was not affected by either LPS or thymol treatments. These results indicated that thymol can enhance gut barrier structure and functions by reducing ROS production and pro-inflammatory cytokine gene expression in porcine epithelial cells during inflammation. The regulation of barrier function by thymol may be at post-transcriptional or post-translational levels.