Ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory bowel disease that causes long-lasting inflammation and ulcers in the gastrointestinal tract. It affects the innermost lining of the colon and rectum. The aim of this work was to study the effect of indole-3-carbinol (I3C) or metformin alone and in combination on female patients suffering from ulcerative colitis. Forty female patients were divided as follows: 10 patients represent the normal control group and the other 30 patients with ulcerative colitis were divided into 3 equal groups; metformin treated group, I3C treated group and metformin + I3C treated group. A colonoscopic biopsy was homogenized for determination of tissue tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGF-β1), malondialdehyde (MDA), catalase (CAT) and myeloperoxidase (MPO). The biopsy was also subjected to histopathological and immunohistochemical examination. Administration of each of metformin or I3C alone and in combination to ulcerative colitis patients induced significant increase in tissue CAT with significant decrease in the colonic endoscopic score, tissue TNF-α, TGF-β1, MDA and MPO and alleviated the histopathological and immunohistochemical changes compared to the same parameters before treatment. Metformin/I3C combination produced significant improvement in the biochemical, histopathological and immunohistochemical parameters compared to the groups that received either metformin or I3C alone. In conclusion, metformin and I3C had protective effects on female patients suffering from ulcerative colitis but their combination had the upper hand. |
