Oral caffeine administration ameliorates acute colitis by suppressing chitinase 3-like 1 expression in intestinal epithelial cells.

Abstract

The initial trigger of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) can be partly attributed towards the interaction and invasion of intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) and submucosal compartments. Identifying safe and economical methods to block these interactions may help prevent the onset of early colitis. Chitinase 3-like 1 (CHI3L1) is an inducible host protein that facilitates bacterial attachment and invasion on/into IECs. Therefore, we test the hypothesis of inhibiting CHI3L1 using the pan-chitinase inhibitor caffeine to reduce the likelihood of early colitis onset.