Ethanol Extract of Limonium bicolor Improves Dextran Sulfate Sodium-Induced Ulcerative Colitis by Alleviating Inflammation and Restoring Gut Microbiota Dysbiosis in Mice

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a kind of inflammatory bowel condition characterized by inflammation within the mucous membrane, rectal bleeding, diarrhea, and pain experienced in the abdominal region. Existing medications for UC have limited treatment efficacy and primarily focus on symptom relief. Limonium bicolor (LB), an aquatic traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), exerts multi-targeted therapeutic effects with few side effects and is used to treat anemia and hemostasis. Nevertheless, the impact of LB on UC and its mechanism of action remain unclear. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the anti-inflammatory effects and mechanism of action of ethanol extract of LB (LBE) in lipopolysaccharide-induced RAW 264.7 macrophages and dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced UC. The results showed that LBE suppressed the secretion of cytokines in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells in a dose-dependent manner. LBE had protective effects against DSS-induced colitis in mice, decreased the disease activity index (DAI) score, alleviated symptoms, increased colon length, and improved histological characteristics, thus having protective effects against DSS-induced colitis in mice. In addition, it reversed disturbances in the abundance of proteobacteria and probiotics such as Lactobacillus and Blautia in mice with DSS-induced UC. Based on the results of network pharmacology analysis, we identified four main compounds in LBE that are associated with five inflammatory genes (Ptgs2, Plg, Ppar-γ, F2, and Gpr35). These results improve comprehension of the biological activity and functionality of LB and may facilitate the development of LB-based compounds for the treatment of UC.