Quercetin: A Potential Drug Candidate for Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Abstract

Over the past decades, the incidence rate of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has significantly risen all over the world. Most of the patients with IBD suffer from severe symptoms and complications. Being an autoimmune disease, recent research indicates that certain factors, such as environmental changes, disturbances in intestinal microbiota, abnormal immune responses, and genetic susceptibility, play a role in the pathogenesis of IBD. Nevertheless, the precise cause of IBD remains ambiguous. Therefore, there is no known cure for IBD. Moreover, traditional medications have troublesome side effects. For these reasons, some phytochemicals with more tolerance and less adverse effects capture the interest of medical scientists. Flavonoid, a natural anti-inflammatory compound, has recently been validated for its efficacy in IBD treatment. Among the extensive flavonoid family, comprising over 5000 members, quercetin has emerged as a promising drug candidate for treating IBD, supported by substantial preclinical evidence. Currently, quercetin participates in regulating IBD through several pathways, such as antioxidant properties, improvement of the intestinal barrier, modulation of the microbiota, immune response, and regulation of the enteroendocrine system in the gut. In brief, quercetin, a natural compound with anti-inflammatory activity, demonstrates a huge potential as a candidate drug for IBD treatment.