Do-Youn Jeong¹, Hee-Jong Yang¹, Su-Ji Jeong¹, Dong-Yeop Shin², Young Mi Park², Hak Yong Lee², Na-Rae Shin^2,

Doenjang, a traditional fermented food in Korea, has been consumed as a health food for a long time and is known worldwide. Doenjang has varying biological effects depending on the manufacturing method and fermentation or aging period. In this study, we confirmed the protective effect of Doenjang against ulcerative colitis (UC) according to distribution of microorganisms. In this experiment, a rat model of a dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced UC was used. Doenjang (TSMM29 and TSMM30) and positive control (VSL#3; Desimone) were administered orally for 14 days before and after DSS induction. Our results revealed that the DSS-induced group showed decreased body weight, contraction of colon tissue, decreased colon weight, and increased inflammatory cytokine levels. On the contrary, in the TSMM-treated group, changes to body weight, colon tissue, and colon weight were recovered, and inflammatory cytokine levels were decreased. Histological results showed that the TSMM-treated group showed decreased edema and inflammatory cell infiltration, and recovery of the destroyed goblet cells In particular, the TSMM29 group showed the highest degree of recovery, thus showing that the distribution of microorganisms in Doenjang influences its biological effects in UC.

Doenjang, Korea traditional fermented food, microorganisms, Ulcerative colitis, Dextran sulfate sodium