Abstract: This research was performed in order to investigate the alleviative effect of aged Wuyi rock tea on dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis in mice. Fifty C57BL/6JGpt female mice were randomly and equally divided into five groups: control, DSS, DSS + infusion of 20-year-old Wuyi rock tea (DSS + OT01), DSS + infusion of 10-year-old Wuyi rock tea (DSS + OT11) and DSS + infusion of fresh Wuyi rock tea (DSS + OT20). The physiological and histopathological conditions of mice after Wuyi rock tea interventions, and the changes of serum inflammatory factors and cecal microbiota were analyzed. The results showed that aged Wuyi rock tea could significantly alleviate the symptoms of body mass loss, diarrhea, bloody stool, and colon length shortening, reduce inflammatory cell infiltration, and significantly inhibit the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines. In addition, aged Wuyi rock tea could alleviate the disorder of the gut microbiota, significantly down-regulate the relative abundance of Proteobacteria, Enterobacteriaceae and Escherichia, and up-regulate the relative abundance of Verrucomicrobia and Akkermansia. In summary, aged Wuyi rock tea can alleviate DSS-induced colitis in mice, and the tea produced in 2011 is more effective than that produced in 2001, which may be due to proper oxidation of catechins such as epigallocatechin gallate to produce thearubigins, with better anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. In addition, aged Wuyi rock tea is able to maintain intestinal homeostasis by regulating the relative abundance of Escherichia and Akkermansia in the intestine, which in turn alleviates the symptoms of DSS-induced colitis in mice such as body mass loss, diarrhea, bloody stool, colon length shortening, mucosal and crypt damage, inflammatory cell infiltration, and serum inflammatory factor overexpression.

Key words: aged Wuyi rock tea; dextran sulfate sodium; colitis; gut microbiota