Therapeutic Effect of Heat-clearing and Dampness-removing Therapy Combined with Bifico for Ulcerative Colitis and Its Influence on Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha and Interleukin-10 in Rats / 广州中医药大学学报

ABSTRACT

Objective To observe the therapeutic effect of heat-clearing and dampness-removing therapy combined with Bifico for ulcerative colitis ( UC) induced by trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid ( TNBS), and to explore its influence on tumor necrosis factor alpha ( TNF-α) and interleukin-10 ( IL-10) in rats. Methods Forty female adult Sprague-Dawley rats were evenly randomized into five groups, namely normal control group, model group, Bifico (175 mg/kg) group, Chinese medicine group(enema with Changdiqing 3.6/kg and oral use of Changyanling Recipe l) , and Chinese medicine plus Bifico group. After treatment, the damage of colonic mucous membrane was evaluated, and expression levels of IL-10 and TNF-α in colonic mucosa were observed through immunohistochemical assay. Results The degree of colonic mucosal injury was severer and the inflammation was more obvious in the model group than those in the normal control groups ( P<0.01) , and the above changes were relieved to various degrees in the medication group ( P<0.01 compared with those in the model group) . Chinese medicine plus Bifico group had better effect on reducing colonic mucosa damage index ( CMDI) and inflammation, and on promoting the healing of colonic mucosa than Bifico group and Chinese medicine group (P<0.05 ) . The expression level of TNF-α in the colonic mucosa was markedly increased while that of IL-10 was markedly decreased in the model group ( P<0.01 compared with those in the normal control group) . The medication groups could counteract the above changes in the colonic mucosa ( P<0.01 compared with those in the model group) . The combination group and Chinese medicine group had better effect on decreasing TNF-α expression level and on increasing IL-10 expression level than Bifico group ( P<0.05) . Conclusion IL-10 and TNF-α play an important role in the pathogenesis and development of ulcerative colitis. Chinese medicine combined with Bifico has satisfactory therapeutic effect on UC rats, and its mechanism may be related with the increase of IL-10 expression level and with the decrease of TNF-α expression level.