Inflammatory bowel disease is a group of inflammatory conditions that usually occurs as either Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis. In Crohn’s disease, any part of the digestive tract may be involved, most commonly the small or large intestine. In contrast, ulcerative colitis involves only the large intestine. The exact causes of these diseases are unknown. One thing that is clear is that, over time, the gut microbiome is disrupted.
A New Strategy:
One possible way to combat these diseases may be to boost the microbiome back to its normal function. A recent study was performed to attempt just that. Researchers used a mouse model of immune-modulated Crohn’s disease. The mice were fed a diet including raw broccoli sprouts, which contains the anti-inflammatory compound sulforaphane. Sulforaphane in its purified chemical form has previously been shown to protect mice and their gut from ulcerative colitis.
After 7 days, the mice were inoculated with Heliobacter hepaticus, which induced the symptoms of Crohn’s disease. The broccoli sprout diet was then continued for another 2 weeks.
Evaluation:
A healthy gut microbiome must consist of a large diversity of families in the bacterial community. The populations of the good bacteria must be able to thrive over common gut pathogens. The gut microbiome has a changing microbial community early in life and begins to stabilize around adolescence. Therefore, the study included 2 sets of mice of different ages, one group was very young and at post-weaning, the other group was at adolescence. The dietary intervention was found to be much more beneficial for the very young group.
Treatment for inflammatory bowel disease requires consideration of so very many factors. Further research will be needed to confirm whether or not the benefits to the very young group would carry on into adulthood. If so, this will be a good step in learning how to manipulate the gut microbiome to ensure continued good health.
Several forms of Sulforaphane are available at LKT Labs:
R,S-Sulforaphane, Research Grade (≥97%)
R,S-Sulforaphane, High Purity (≥99%)
R-Sulforaphane, Research Grade (≥97%)
R-Sulforaphane, High Purity (≥98%)
Holcomb L, Holman J, Hurd M, et al. Early life exposure to broccoli sprouts confers stronger protection against enterocolitis development in an immunological mouse model of inflammatory bowel disease. mSystems. 2023 Dec 21;8(6):e0068823. doi: 10.1128/msystems.00688-23. PMID: 37942948