Rhapontin (3, 3', 5-trihydroxy-4'-methoxystilbene-3-O-glucoside) has anti-thrombotic,
anti-allergic and anti-diabetic activities. This study aimed to assess the protective effects of
rhapontin on intestinal damage in vivo and in vitro. In a
dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced mouse model,
oral administration of
rhapontin (100mg/kg) significantly attenuated colonic pathological damage and remarkably inhibited infiltration by inflammatory cells,
myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity, NLRP3
inflammasome activation and
SIRT1 expression in the colon. Moreover,
rhapontin prevented DSS-induced impairment in the colon epithelium barrier by increasing the expression of
tight junction proteins, such as zonula occludens-1(ZO-1) and
occludin, and reduced apoptosis-associated
protein (cyt-c, the ratio of bcl-2/bax and cleaved-capase9) expression in the colon. The in vitro results showed that
rhapontin significantly reduced NLRP3
inflammasome activation and cleaved caspase-1 expression as well as lowered IL-1β secretion in LPS-stimulated human-THP-1-derived macrophages. Further study revealed that compound EX257 (an
SIRT1 inhibitor) blocked the inhibitory effects of
rhapontin on NLRP3-dependent caspase-1 activation and IL-β production in activated macrophages. In addition, in TNF-α-stimulated intestinal epithelial NCM460 cells,
rhapontin significantly increased the expressions of
occludin and ZO-1 and notably reduced the ratio of bcl-2/bax and cleaved-capase9 expression through SRIT1 signaling. In sum, the protective effect of
rhapontin is from blocking the NLRP3 priming cascade reaction and is dependent on
SIRT1 activation. Our findings demonstrate that
rhapontin might be a potential agent for the treatment of
colitis by targeting
SIRT1.