Protective Effects of Cinnamic Acid on Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Intestinal Injury in a Mouse Model

Abstract Objectives Cinnamic acids occurring naturally in the plants have been long used topically for treating infections. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the protective effects of cinnamic acid on lipopolysaccharides (LPS)-induced intestinal injury in mice. Methods Eighteen male C57BL6/J mice were fed with chow diet supplemented with cinnamic acid (CIA group, 1%, wt/wt) or chow diet only (CON and LPS groups) for 4 weeks. On day 29, animals were intraperitoneally injected with a single dose of LPS (10 mg/kg BW) and control mice received saline injection. After 3 days, all animals were sacrificed with CO2 and the jejunum tissues and cecal contents were collected for analysis. Results Compared with the LPS group, CIA increased the villus height, villus area and villus/crypt ratio in the jejunum as well as the concentration of butyric acid in the cecal contents. Treatment with LPS significantly elevated apoptosis in the jejunum, and this was slightly reduced by CIA supplementation. And, the expression of caspase 3 protein was significantly higher in the CIA group than in the CON and LPS groups. In addition, CIA prevented the LPS-induced elevation of TNF-α and cyclooxygenase-2 levels. Conclusions These findings suggested that the protective effects of cinnamic acid on LPS-induced intestinal injury may attributed to the amelioration the inflammation and promotion of apoptosis. Funding Sources This study was partially supported by a grant from Asia University, Taichung City, Taiwan (ASIA-107-CMUH-13).