Sunset yellow and colitis in mice through gut bacteria
What it found
In mice, long-term sunset yellow made colitis worse, and this seemed to work through changes in gut bacteria and a key antioxidant.
The same effect was seen in lab tests on a gut bacterium.
What they found
Animal and lab studies
Colitis symptoms worse
Mice exposed to sunset yellow lost more body weight, had higher disease activity scores, more tissue damage, more inflammation, and a leakier gut barrier when colitis was triggered.
Gut bacteria transfer effect
When gut bacteria from sunset yellow exposed mice were transplanted into other mice, those mice also had worse colitis.
Gut bacterium growth slowed
Sunset yellow exposure slowed the growth of Akkermansia muciniphila both in living mice and in lab tests.
Glutathione metabolism changed
Sunset yellow exposure lowered levels of glutathione and glutathione disulfide in both normal and colitis mice.
Glutathione in bacterium
In Akkermansia muciniphila, sunset yellow reduced glutathione content, lowered glutathione S-transferase activity, and disrupted sulfur metabolism.
Glutathione reversed effect
Adding glutathione back clearly reversed the slowed growth of Akkermansia muciniphila caused by sunset yellow.
What the authors conclude
“Collectively, these findings suggest that long-term SY exposure promotes experimental colitis in mice through gut microbiota-dependent GSH metabolic dysregulation.”
Also in their conclusions
- They suggest that long-term sunset yellow exposure promotes experimental colitis in mice through gut microbiota-dependent glutathione metabolic dysregulation.
How it was done
Sunset yellow is a widely used food additive, but its effects on the development of ulcerative colitis were not clear.
Mice were given sunset yellow for a long time, then colitis was triggered with a chemical. The researchers also transplanted gut bacteria from these mice into other mice and ran lab tests on a gut bacterium.
What it can’t tell you
- We summarised it from the abstract only.
- These are mouse and lab studies. They can't show what happens in people.
- The study used a chemical to trigger colitis, so it doesn't show whether sunset yellow would cause colitis on its own.
Who paid
- Authors work at
- Nanjing Medical University, P.R. China; Suzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention, P.R. China
The paper
- Title
- Chronic Exposure to Sunset Yellow Promotes Susceptibility to Experimental Colitis in Mice through Gut Microbiota
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Animals and lab studies
- Summarised from
- Abstract only
- Cite
- Shi X, Wan L, Ni S, et al (2025). Chronic Exposure to Sunset Yellow Promotes Susceptibility to Experimental Colitis in Mice through Gut Microbiota. Journal of agricultural and food chemistry. doi:10.1021/acs.jafc.5c06410PubMed 40899722DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error