Tianeptine exerts ameliorative effects on acetic acid-induced colitis as detected by anti-inflammatory and antioxidant markers in rats; the role of anti-LOX and radical scavenging activity

Some patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) could benefit from antidepressant use, particularly when having concomitant depression or during the remission period. For this purpose, we investigated the therapeutic effects of Tianeptine (TT) on UC induced by acetic acid (AA) in rats from the perspective of both in vitro and in vivo antiinflammatory and antioxidant activity. Within the in vivo experiments, the rats were divided into control (C), AA+ TT, and AA+ sulfasalazine (AA+SS) groups. Colitis was induced with the application of AA 5% intrarectally. Compared to indomethacin (21.42 μg/ml), SS showed an equally strong anti-inflammatory activity (21.97 μg/ml), while Tianeptine had a good anti-LOX activity (88.57 μg/ml) in vitro. Compared to standard Trolox (13 μg/ml) against ABTS radical, Tianeptine (238.60 μg/ml) and sulfasalazine (1727 μg/ml) showed free radical scavenging activity in vitro. AA caused a depletion in colonic GSH (p<0.001) and an increase in MDA, MPO, luminol, and lucigenin chemiluminescence levels (p<0.01- p<0.001) compared with the C group. Macroscopic and microscopic scoring were elevated in the AA group (p<0.001). The AA+ TT and AA+ SS groups showed improvement in GSH, MDA, MPO, and CL levels compared to the AA group (p<0.01- p< 0.001). Macroscopic and microscopic scoring decreased in the AA+ TT and AA+ SS groups (p<0.001) compared to the AA group. In conclusion, our study demonstrated that TT has a curative effect on UC based on its in vitro and in vivo anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities. TT can be used in patients with concomitant colon inflammation and depression.