Uygur medicine Xipayi Kui Jie'an affects gene expression profiles in intestinal tissue lesions in a rat model of ulcerative colitis.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effect of Uygur medicine KJA on UC in a rat model. METHODS: UC was induced in Wistar rats by application of 2, 4-dinitrochlorobenzene and acetic acid and were then treated with three different doses of KJA, and normal saline as control. After treatment for 20 days, the gene expression profile of colonic tissue was analyzed by microarray and verified by quantitative real-time RT-PCR. RESULTS: Animals treated with the three different doses of KJA were compared with normal saline controls, wherein microarray analysis identified 1991, 2163, and 1677 differentially expressed genes respectively, of which 444 genes were raised and 670 genes were decrease spliced together in the three doses tested. The KEGG pathway analyses found commonly raised genes related to several different biological functions. Interesting genes included TRL2, IL-1ß, TGF-ß1, and NF-κB were confirmed by quantitative PCR. CONCLUSIONS: The therapeutic effect of KJA on UC is likely explained by specific effects on the expression of genes, which are the effector molecules known to be involved in the development of UC. Further studies on differentially expressed genes will help explain the mechanism of action of Uygur medicine KJA.