Bisdemethoxycurcumin Alleviates Dextran Sodium Sulfate-Induced Colitis via Inhibiting NLRP3 Inflammasome Activation and Modulating the Gut Microbiota in Mice

Our previous study showed that bisdemethoxycurcumin (BUR) exerts anti-inflammatory properties in lipopolysaccharide-induced intestinal injury, and studies have revealed that NOD-like receptor superfamily, pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome activation plays a vital role in the pathogenesis of colitis. However, it is not clear whether BUR could attenuate colitis-mediated intestinal inflammation via NLRP3 inflammasome inactivation and modulate the gut microbiota dysbiosis. The results demonstrated that BUR attenuated DSS-induced body weight decrease, histopathological changes, and epithelial apoptosis. BUR significantly improved the intestinal barrier defects and abrogated DSS-induced inflammatory response. Consistently, BUR reduced the expression of NLRP3 family members, confirming its inhibitory effects on NLRP3 inflammasome activation and pyroptosis. BUR regulated microbiota dysbiosis and altered the gut microbial community. BUR supplementation enriched the relative abundance of beneficial bacteria (such as Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium), which showed significant negative correlations with the pro-inflammatory biomarkers. Collectively, these findings illustrated that BUR could ameliorate DSS-induced colitis by improving intestinal barrier function, reducing apoptosis, inhibiting NLRP3 inflammasome activation, and regulating the gut microbiota.