Figure 1. Treatment with I3C resulted in amelioration of TNBS-induced colitis.

(A) TNBS colitis was induced in mice as described in Methods, and the efficacy of treatment with I3C was tested with the following experimental groups unless otherwise stated: Vehicle (n = 9), I3C (n = 5), TNBS + Vehicle (n = 9), TNBS + I3C (n = 9). (B–D) Disease parameters assessed included percent weight loss (B), colon length (C), and macroscopic score (D). (E) FITC-dextran was given to mice by oral gavage on day 3 of the TNBS model, and serum was collected 4 hours later to test gut permeability for Vehicle (n = 4), I3C (n = 4), TNBS + Vehicle (n = 4), and TNBS + I3C (n = 4), which are combined data from 2 independent experiments. (F) On day 3, serum was also collected to determine the levels of circulating SAA. (G and H) Bar plots depicting total cell numbers of Th17 (G) and Tregs (H) from MLN of experimental mice (n = 5). (I) Bar graph depicting colonoscopy scores from experimental mice (n = 5). (J) Bar graph depicting histopathological scores of H&E-stained colons from experimental mice (n = 5) (K) Representative colonoscopy images taken during day 3 of the TNBS model (n = 5). (L) Representative H&E stains of colons from experimental mice (n = 5). Scale bars: 100 μm (original magnification, ×100). Data are shown as mean ± SEM of combined data from at least 3 independent experiments unless otherwise stated. Significance was determined using 1-way ANOVA and Tukey’s multiple comparisons test; *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.005; ****P < 0.001.