Study on the effect of modified diosmetin for ulcerative colitis

In recent years, the incidence of ulcerative colitis (UC) has been steadily rising in our country. As a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), UC is primarily characterized by bloody diarrhea, abdominal pain, hematochezia, weight loss, and acute or post-traumatic stress responses. In severe cases, it can lead to various complications, posing a significant threat to patients' lives. The current treatment strategies for UC primarily include dietary management, pharmacological therapy, and surgical intervention. Among these, medication remains the most widely used approach. However, conventional drugs such as aminosalicylates and glucocorticoids suffer from poor target specificity and considerable toxic side effects. Consequently, there is an urgent need to develop alternative anti-UC agents with higher efficacy and lower toxicity. Diosmetin, a naturally occurring flavonoid predominantly derived from citrus fruits, exhibits multiple pharmacological activities. Nevertheless, its clinical application in UC treatment has been severely limited due to inherent drawbacks, including poor structural stability and a tendency to precipitate in aqueous solutions, which hinders the formation of stable formulations. To address these limitations, this study proposes a novel property modification strategy for diosmetin to enhance its therapeutic potential in UC management.