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Context:Periplaneta americanaL. (Dictyoptera;Blattaria) has been traditional used to treat ulcers, burns and heart disease in southwestern China. Recent reports indicate thatP. americanacan be used as an alternative medicine in therapy of ulcerative colitis, but the mechanism involved remains obscure. Objective:This study investigated the therapeutic effect ofP. americanaextract (PAE) in rat colitis and elucidated its potential mechanism. Materials and methods:Dinitrochlorobenzene and acetic acid-induced colitis rat model was applied. Colitis rats were treated with PAE for 10 d and estimated disease activity index daily. Rectal inflammation was assessed by myeloperoxidase activity and histological changes. Another colitis rats were treated with PAE for 4 d, meanwhile gavage withEscherichia colilabelled with green fluorescent protein. Mesenteric lymph nodes, colon, liver, spleen and kidney were harvested for bacteria culture. PAE was suspended in distilled water then partitioned with ethyl acetate andn-butanol to obtain ethyl acetate fraction,n-butanol fraction and water fraction, respectively. Fibroblasts proliferation and collagen accumulation of each fraction was determined. Results:PAE treatment reduced the severity of colitis and tissue myeloperoxidase accumulation (p < 0.001). Also, PAE at 80 mg/kg significantly inhibited labelledE. colifrom translocating to distant organs, especially to MLN and liver. Additionally, PAE significantly stimulated fibroblasts proliferation (126.9%) and collagen accumulation (130.8%) for 48 h incubation. Among the partitions, ethyl acetate fraction generally had higher fibroblast viability enhanced-activity. Conclusions:PAE can protect against ulcerative colitis and this protection is attributed to anti-inflammation and fibroblasts viability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]