Title: Anti-inflammatory effects of DA-9601, an extract of <i>Artemisia asiatica</i>, on aceclofenac-induced acute enteritis
Abstract: DA-9601 is an extract obtained from Artemisia asiatica, which has been reported to have anti-inflammatory effects on gastrointestinal lesions; however, its possible anti-inflammatory effects on the small intestine have not been studied yet.Therefore, in this study, we investigated the protective effects of DA-9601 against the ACF-induced small intestinal inflammation.Inflammation of the small intestine was confirmed by histological studies and the changes in the CD4 + T cell fraction induced by the inflammation-related cytokines, and the inflammatory reactions were analyzed.Multifocal discrete small necrotic ulcers with intervening normal mucosa were frequently observed after treatment with ACF.The expression of IL-6, IL-17, and TNF-α genes was increased in the ACF group; however, it was found to have been significantly decreased in the DA-9601 treated group.In addition, DA-9601 significantly decreased the levels of proinflammatory mediators such as IL-1β, GM-CSF, IFN-γ, and TNF-α; the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10, on the other hand, was observed to have increased.It is known that inflammatory mediators related to T cell imbalance and dysfunction continuously activate the inflammatory response, causing chronic tissue damage.The fractions of IFN-γ + Th1 cells, IL-4 + Th2 cells, IL-9 + Th9 cells, IL-17 + Th17 cells, and Foxp3 + Treg cells were significantly decreased upon DA-9601 treatment.These data suggest that the inflammatory response induced by ACF is reduced by DA-9601 via lowering of the expression of genes encoding the inflammatory cytokines and the concentration of inflammatory mediators.Furthermore, DA-9601 inhibited the acute inflammatory response mediated by T cells, resulting in an improvement in ACF-induced enteritis.