THE MILK FROM NORTHEASTERN-BREED DONKEYS REDUCES MACROSCOPIC DAMAGE AND INTESTINAL OXIDATIVE STRESS IN DNBS-INDUCED COLITIS IN MICE

Introduction: Studies with donkey milk have grown in recent years due to the expressive biological value that gives it an important role in several physiological processes and the reduction of incidences of gastrointestinal infections. With the increase in the prevalence of intestinal inflammatory diseases, some foods started to be seen as a therapeutic strategy for health promotion and to minimize the adverse effects of pharmacotherapy. Objective: Evaluate the colitis-related macroscopic colonic damage and determine the tissue malonaldehyde (MDA) levels in pre-treated biological assays with donkey milk. Methodology: The study was approved by CEUA/UFRN (nº 50/2018). Thirty Balb/c mice (n=10/group) were used, randomized into 3 groups: Healthy (Saline Control), Colitic (untreated inflamed), and donkey milk (4.0 g.Kg-1), which received the treatments daily for 17 days; On the 14th-day colitis was induced by intracolonic instillation of DNBS. On the 17th-day, euthanasia was carried out, the colon was removed for evaluation of macroscopic damage (Bento et al., 2008) and oxidative stress. The tissue levels of lipid peroxidation (MDA) of the colonic tissue, was determined according to Esterbauer and Cheeseman (1990) and expressed in nmol/g. The results were presented as mean±SE, scores were analyzed by the Mann-Whitney test and the MDA by the Tukey test (P<0.05), both using GraphPad® 6.0. Results: Pre-treatment with donkey milk reduced (P<0.05) the index of macroscopic damage (IDM) induced by DNBS, with a mean score of 2.5, when compared to the colitic group (5.7) and reduced the weight/length ratio of the colon, while the colitic group was smaller and heavier due to the thickening of the intestinal wall, a consequence of the inflammatory process. Besides, the milk reduced (P<0.05) the MDA content (416.9 nmol/g) when compared to the colitic group (691.0 nmol/g), showing attenuation of oxidative stress involved in the inflammatory process. Conclusion: The donkey milk reduced the macroscopic damage and the colonic oxidative stress, produced by DNBS, which are closely related to the intestinal inflammatory process.