title: Strontium chloride: can it be a new treatment option for ulcerative colitis?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Patients with ulcerative colitis still need effective therapy without major side effects. It has been found that strontium can suppress NFκB activation induced by TNF-α. This opens a gate to a new anti-TNF agent which is cheap and can be given orally. We for the first time aimed to investigate the effect of strontium chloride (SrCl2) on inflammation in experimental colitis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty female Wistar albino rats were divided into 5 groups each containing 6 rats. The rats in groups 1 and 2 served as the healthy control and colitis group, respectively. The rats in groups 3, 4, and 5 had colitis and received 40 mg/kg SrCl2, 160 mg/kg SrCl2, and 1 mg/kg prednisolone by oral gavage, respectively. The rats were sacrificed for histological evaluation and determination of serum neopterin, TNF-α, and IFN-γ levels.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The neopterin, TNF-α and IFNγ levels of group 2 was significantly higher than the other groups. The neopterin, TNF-α, and IFN-γ levels of controls and other treatment groups were comparable. There were a significant difference in macroscopic and microscopic healing between group 2 and other groups histologically. But there was not a significant difference within treatment receiving groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  SrCl2 had comparable therapeutic efficiency with prednisolone.
authors.affiliation: Gastroenterology Clinic, Ataturk Training and Research Hospital, 35965 Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Firdevs
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Topal
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Faculty of Medicine, Cumhuriyet University, 58140 Sivas, Turkey ; Cumhuriyet Universitesi Hastanesi, Gastroenteroloji B.D., 58140 Sivas, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ozlem
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Yonem
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Cumhuriyet University, 58140 Sivas, Turkey.
authors.forename: Nevin
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-5899-3955
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tuzcu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cumhuriyet University, 58140 Sivas, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tuzcu
authors.affiliation: Gastroenterology Clinic, Anadolu Hospital, 58070 Sivas, Turkey.
authors.forename: Hilmi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ataseven
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine, Cumhuriyet University, 58140 Sivas, Turkey.
authors.forename: Melih
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Akyol
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D003093:Colitis, Ulcerative / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000097:blood; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000378:metabolism; D019798:Neopterin / Q000097:blood; D011239:Prednisolone / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013324:Strontium / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D016328:NF-kappa B; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D019798:Neopterin; D007371:Interferon-gamma; D011239:Prednisolone; C025700:strontium chloride; D013324:Strontium