# Effect of _Cynara carduculus_ L. var. _altilis_ (DC) in Inflammatory Bowel Disease
## 3 Results
### Biochemical Markers  
The mice from the TNBS group showed a significant reduction in colon length (\(8.4\pm 0.1\) cm) in comparison to mice in the sham group (11.2 \(\pm\) 0.2 cm), which is considered a length of healthy tissue (\(p\) < 0.0001). The TNBS + CLE500 group (9.5 \(\pm\) 0.2 cm) demonstrated a significant increase in colon length in comparison to the TNBS group (\(p\) < 0.1). However, the TNBS + CLE100 group revealed similar results with the TNBS group. The CLE500, ethanol, and sham groups demonstrated similar results among them, such as 10.5 \(\pm\) 0.4 cm, 11.1 \(\pm\) 0.3 cm, and 11.2 \(\pm\) 0.2 cm, respectively (Figure 2).  
Figure 1: CLE influence on body weight changes in IBD context. Legend: Two-way ANOVA for multiple comparisons; **\(p\) < 0.01; ****\(p\) < 0.0001 in comparison to the TNBS group. Abbreviations: CLE, _C. candunculus_ L. extract; IBD, inflammatory bowel disease; TNBS, 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid.  
Fecal hemoglobin was quantified and then compared between all groups (Figure 3). Mice in the TNBS group presented a more severe presence of blood in feces compared to the mice in the sham group (12.0 \(\pm\) 0.7 and 0.7 \(\pm\) 0.1 \(\upmu\)mol/g feces, respectively, \(p\) < 0.0001), as well as the CLE500 group (1.3 \(\pm\) 0.1 \(\upmu\)mol/g feces) and the ethanol group (1.1 \(\pm\) 0.1 \(\upmu\)mol/g feces) (\(p\) <0.0001). The TNBS + CLE100 group showed 6.1 \(\pm\) 0.1 \(\upmu\)mol/g feces and the TNBS + CLE500 group presented 4.3 \(\pm\) 0.3 \(\upmu\)mol/g feces (\(p\) < 0.0001, in comparison to the TNBS group). Therefore, treatment with CLE showed a positive influence on the severity of focal hemorrhaging. Since the fecal hemoglobin decreased when the dose of CLE was increased, it can be assumed that it has a dose-dependent effect (\(p\) < 0.01).  
Figure 3: CLE influence on fecal hemoglobin levels in IBD context. Legend: One-way ANOVA and [PERSON]’s post hoc test; **_p_ < 0.01, ****_p_ < 0.0001 in comparison to the TNBS group or between groups. Abbreviations: CLE, _C. carduculus_ L. extract; TNBS, 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid.  
Figure 2: CLE influence on colon length in IBD context. Legend: One-way ANOVA and [PERSON]’s post hoc test; **_p_ < 0.1; ****_p_ < 0.0001; in comparison to the TNBS group. Abbreviations: CLE, _C. carduculus_ L. extract; TNBS, 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid.  
Concerning ALP levels, the TNBS group demonstrated a significantly higher concentration in comparison to the sham group (67.8 \(\pm\) 2.6 and 19.2 \(\pm\) 1.8 U/L, respectively, \(p\) < 0.0001). The TNBS + CLE100 group revealed concentrations of 39.4 \(\pm\) 1.4 U/L, and the TNBS + CLE500 group presented 39.8 \(\pm\) 1.4 U/L. In this sense, CLE treatment showed a positive influence in this parameter by decreasing the ALP concentration with statistical significance at both doses (\(p\) < 0.0001, in comparison to the TNBS group); however, this effect was not considered dose-dependent. Additionally, ALP concentration in the CLE500 and ethanol groups was significantly lower in comparison to the TNBS group (39.8 \(\pm\) 0.9 U/L and 38.0 \(\pm\) 0.8 U/L, \(p\) < 0.001, respectively) (Figure 4).