Guidelines for assessing the capacity of food-derived nutrients to alleviate intestinal inflammation

Abstract

​Nutrients derived from food sources, such as astaxanthin, polyphenols, dietary fiber, probiotics, and short-chain fatty acids, play a crucial role in alleviating intestinal inflammation caused by sub-health conditions.​ These sub-health states are closely associated with a range of diseases, including colitis, gastric ulcers, and colorectal cancer. Currently, there is a lack of comprehensive guidelines that summarize quantitative and dynamic analysis methods for assessing the impact of nutrients on gastrointestinal inflammation, which limits accurate comparison and analysis of their mechanisms of action. Therefore, we summarized guidelines for evaluating the in vivo anti-inflammatory properties of food-derived nutrients. These guidelines encompass the selection of experimental models, dynamic assessment tools, long-term evaluation parameters, and exploration of inflammation-related mechanisms by disease activity index, murine endoscopic index of colitis severity (MEICS), spleen index, changes in colon length, and histology index, assessing inflammatory progression and tissue repair capabilities. By integrating these methods, researchers can conduct in-depth studies and systematic comparative analyses of the mechanisms by which food-derived nutrients alleviate intestinal inflammation. This approach will enable a more comprehensive understanding of the role of nutrition in gastrointestinal health and disease prevention.