The Effects of Cooked Whole Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis L.) and its Purified Bioactive, Rutin, on Symptoms of DSS-induced Acute Colitis and Recovery in C57BL/6 Mice

THE EFFECTS OF COOKED WHOLE ASPARAGUS (ASPARAGUS OFFICINALIS L.) AND ITS PURIFIED BIOACTIVE, RUTIN, ON SYMPTOMS OF DSS-INDUCED ACUTE COLITIS AND RECOVERY IN C57BL/6 MICE Jenifer Thi Lu Advisor: Dr. Lindsay Robinson University of Guelph, 2013 This thesis explored the effects of cooked whole asparagus and its purified bioactive, rutin, on colitis symptoms and disease progression in mice using a chemically-induced model of colitis. This model mimics active colitis and recovery states of ulcerative colitis. C57BL/6 mice were fed a basal diet supplemented with 2% asparagus or 0.025% rutin for 3 weeks. Colitis was induced by 2% dextran sodium sulfate in drinking water for 7 days. Asparagus diet was determined to contain higher antioxidant capacities than rutin diet through antioxidant assays. During active colitis, consumption of asparagus alleviated some clinical symptoms (stool consistency, stool blood, and spleen hypertrophy) of colitis. In recovery, asparagus-fed mice were improving in terms of regenerating crypts, surface epithelial, and goblet cells, potentially due to its rutin content. Overall, these findings advocate that asparagus can be therapeutic in treating symptoms during active colitis and recovery phases of ulcerative colitis.