Perillyl alcohol attenuates chronic restraint stress aggravated dextran sulfate sodium-induced ulcerative colitis by modulating TLR4/NF-κB and JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathways

•Perillyl alcohol (POH) is naturally occurring monoterpene reported to have strong anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-proliferative properties.•POH downregulated pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α in serum.•POH reversed the pathological changes caused by RS+DSS in the colon which was evidenced by histopathology and colonoscopy.•POH inhibited neuroinflammation and improved the depressive behaviour of the mice.•POH attenuated the restraint stress aggravated DSS-induced ulcerative colitis in mice by modulating NF-κB and STAT3 in both isolated brain and colon tissues. Ulcerative colitis (UC) is the most prevalent chronic inflammatory immune bowel disease. The modernization of lifestyle accompanied by the stress to cope with the competition has resulted in a new range of complications where stress became a critical contributing factor for many diseases, including UC. Hence there is an urgent need to develop a dual role in curtailing both systemic and neuroinflammation. Perillyl alcohol (POH) is a natural essential oil found in lavender, peppermint, cherries etc and has been widely studied for its strong anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anti-stress properties. POH regulates the various inflammatory signaling cascades involved in chronic inflammation by inhibiting farnesyltransferase enzyme. Several studies reported that POH could inhibit the phosphorylation of NF-κB, STAT3 and promote the endogenous antioxidant enzymes like Nrf2 via farnesyltransferase enzyme inhibition. Also, the effects of POH against UC is not known yet. Thus, this study aims to explore the anti-ulcerative properties of POH on stress aggravated ulcerative colitis in C57BL/6 mice. Ulcerative colitis was induced by duel exposure of chronic restraint stress (day 1 to day 28) and 2.5% dextran sulphate sodium (day8 to day14) in mice. POH treatment 100 and 200 mg/kg was administred from day14 ti day28 following oral route of administration. Disease activity index, colonoscopy, western blot analysis and histological analysis, neurotransmitter analysis and Gene expression studies were perofomerd to asses the anti-colitis effects of POH. The treatment reversed the oxidative stress and inflammatory response by inhibiting TLR4/NF-kB pathway, and IL-6/JAK2/STAT3 pathway in both isolated mice colons and brains. The inhibition of these pathways resulted in a decrease in pro-inflammatory cytokines like IL-6, IL-1β and TNF-α. The treatment improved the physiological and histolog