Effect of Da Jianzhongtang on Visceral Pain in Rats with Irritable Bowel Syndrome / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective:To investigate the effects of Da Jianzhongtang on substance P （SP）， mast cells （MC）， Toll like receptor 2 （TLR2）， TLR4 on MC model and nuclear transcription factor （NF）-<italic>κ</italic>B p65 in visceral pain rats with irritable bowel syndrome （IBS）， and explore its mechanism of action on IBS visceral pain. Method:Forty-eight 3-day-old SD rats were randomly divided into 6 groups： the control group （control）， irritable bowel syndrome group （IBS）， ketotifen group （Ketotifen，0.18 mg·kg^-1）， Da Jianzhongtang low， medium and high dose groups （DJZT-L， DJZT-M， DJZT-H，2.16，1.08，0.54 g·kg^-1）， with 8 rats in each group. Intragastric administration lasted for 2 weeks. Maternal separation method was used to establish the IBS visceral pain model in rats. The visceral sensitivity of rats was evaluated at 60， 40 and 20 mmHg （1 mmHg≈0.133 kPa） with Abdominal wall withdrawal response （AWR） scale. SP and NF-<italic>κ</italic>B p65 protein expression levels in colon tissue were detected with Western blotting technique. TLR2 and TLR4 proteins on mast cell membrane were detected by immunofluorescence staining. The degranulation rate of mast cells in colon tissue was detected by toluidine blue staining. Result:Compared with normal rats， AWR scores of model rats significantly increased at 60， 40， and 20 mmHg pressure （<italic>P</italic><0.05，<italic>P</italic><0.01）， the degranulation rate of mast cells in colon tissue and SP protein expression in colon tissue significantly increased （<italic>P</italic><0.01）， TLR2， TLR4， and nuclear NF-<italic>κ</italic>B p65 expression on mast cell membrane significantly increased （<italic>P</italic><0.01）. Compared with model rats， the AWR scores of DJZT-H group （pressure of 40， 20 mmHg） and DJZT-M group （pressure of 60， 40， 20 mmHg） significantly decreased. Meanwhile， the degranulation rate of colon mast cells， and the SP， TLR2， TLR4， and NF-<italic>κ</italic>B p65 expression also significantly decreased （<italic>P</italic><0.05，<italic>P</italic><0.01）. Conclusion:Da Jianzhongtang can affect mast cell activity and finally decrease visceral pain of IBS rats by down-regulating SP in colon tissue.

Effects of Several Kampo Medicines on Postoperative Ileus Model / 日本東洋医学雑誌

The effects of four Kampo medicines, Ninjin-to, Hange-shashin-to, Rikkunshi-to and Sho-hange-ka-bukuryo-to, were investigated in a rat model of postoperative ileus. The postoperative ileus model was made by incising the abdomen and exposing the small intestine and caecum for five minutes under ether anesthesia. The gastrointestinal transit was estimated by the migration of a charcoal marker. In contrast to the animals anesthetized only, the gastrointestinal transit was markedly decreased in control animals. First, we studied the gastrointestinal prokinetic drugs (cisapride, mosapride and metoclopramide), the anti-inflammatory drug indomethacin, and the Kampo medicine Dai-kenchu-to in this model. They significantly increased the transit as compared with the control. Using the same method, Rikkunshi-to and Sho-hange-ka-bukuryo-to were demon-strated to be almost inactive. However, Ninjin-to and Hange-shashin-to not only significantly improved the gastrointestinal mobility compared to the control, but also showed stronger effects than those of Dai-kenchu-to. These results suggest that in addition to Dai-kenchu-to, Ninjin-to and Hange-shashin-to are also effective Kampo medicines for postoperative ileus.