A novel herbal formulation consisting of Red ginseng extract and Epimedium Koreanum Nakai attenuated dextran sulfate sodium induced colitis in mice

Abstract Background Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a commonly encountered large intestine disease in today’s world that terminates into colorectal cancer, therefore the timely treatment of UC is major concern. Panax ginseng Meyer is an extensively consumed herbal commodity in South East Asian countries especially Korea. It exhibits a wide range of biologically beneficial qualities for almost head to toe ailments in body. Epimedium Koreanum Nakai (EKN) is also a widely used traditional Korean herbal medicine used for infertility, rheumatism and cardiovascular diseases. Materials and methods Separately the anti-inflammatory activities of both RGE and EKN had been demonstrated in past in various inflammatory models however we sought to un ravel the anti-inflammatory activities of the combination of these two extracts in dextran sulfate sodium induced ulcerative colitis in mice model as the allopathic remedies for UC possess more side effects than benefits. Results Our results have shown that the combination of RGE+EKN synergistically alleviated the macroscopic lesions in DSS induced colitic mice like colon shortening, hematochezia and weight loss. Moreover, it restored the histopathological lesions in mice and decreased the levels of pro-inflammatory mediators and cytokines through the repression of NF-κB and NLRP-3 expression. In vitro, this combination also reduced the magnitude of NO, pro-inflammatory mediators and cytokine through NF-κB and MAPK pathways in RAW 264.7 cells. Conclusion In light of these findings, we can hail this combination extract as a functional food for the prophylactic as well as therapeutic treatment of UC in humans together with allopathic remedies.