Abstract: Ulcerative colitis is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease with unclear pathogenesis, and its incidence is increasing gradually. Recently, with the popularization of the concept of healthy diet, reducing the risk of ulcerative colitis through dietary intervention has become increasingly popular. In this paper, we report on the protective effect of Gallus gallus domesticlus Brisson peptides on dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced ulcerative colitis in mice. For this purpose, we measured changes in body mass, disease activity index (DAI), colon length, hematoxylin-eosin (HE) stained colon sections, the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleulin-6 (IL-6), IL-10, IL-1β and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), intestinal microbial community composition and the levels of short-chain fatty acids in cecal contents. The results indicated that G. gallus domesticlus Brisson peptides significantly alleviated the symptoms of ulcerative colitis such as body mass loss, hematochezia, diarrhea, and the shortening of colon length and colon tissue injury in mice, and significantly decreased the levels of TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6. In addition, G. gallus domesticlus Brisson peptides alleviated intestinal microflora disturbance induced by DSS, down-regulated the relative abundance of Shigella and Clostridiaceae_Clostridium, increased the relative abundance of Akkermansia, Ruminococcus and Oscillospira, and significantly increased the contents of acetic acid, propionic acid and butyric acid in cecal contents, thereby alleviating colon inflammation induced by DSS in mice.

Key words: Gallus gallus domesticlus Brisson peptides; ulcerative colitis; intestinal flora; inflammatory cytokines; short-chain fatty acids