Twenty-one mice were assigned into three groups (n=7): CONT group, mice drinking autoclaved water DSS, mice treated with water containing DSS from day 8 to day 14 EXT, mice treated with Cucurbitacin IIb from day 1 to day 14 and DSS from day 8 to day 14. Cucurbitacin IIb was purchased from Aladdin (Shanghai, China) and orally gavaged into mice with a concentration of 5 mg/kg body weight once a day. On day 15, all animals were used for blood collection from the retro-orbital sinus. Then, the mice were immediately sacrificed by cervical dislocation for the determination of colon length and weight, and for the collection of samples of colonic tissue and content.