BACKGROUND: Metabolomics provides data about all the metabolic processes of a 
cell or organism. So far, the changes that occur in the levels of metabolites 
during the development of colitis have not been fully elucidated. Here we 
examined the changes of metabolite levels in the serum and colon tissue of 
colitis mice using gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS) with the aim of 
achieving a detailed understanding of the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel 
disease (IBD).
METHODS: To induce colitis, C57BL/6J mice were administered 3.0% dextran sulfate 
sodium (DSS) in their drinking water for 5 days and were subsequently given 
drinking water alone.
RESULTS: A total of 77 and 92 metabolites were detected in serum and colon 
tissue, respectively, and among the metabolites the compositions of TCA cycle 
intermediates and amino acids changed depending on the degree of colitis. Then, 
partial least square discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), a multiple classification 
analysis, showed distinct clustering and clear separation of the groups 
according to the degree of colitis. Furthermore, PLS-DA loadings plots revealed 
that succinic acid, indole-3-acetic acid, glutamic acid, and glutamine were the 
main contributors to the separation of each stage of colitis. In addition, it 
was revealed that supplementation with glutamine, the level of which was 
significantly decreased in the acute phase of colonic inflammation, attenuated 
colitis induced by DSS.
CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that metabolomics is capable of representing 
the various degrees of colitis, and our findings will aid in the discovery of 
therapeutic agents for IBD and other inflammatory disorders by metabolomic 
approaches.