N-乙酰半胱氨酸对重症急性胰腺炎大鼠肝损伤的保护作用

Protective effect of Jinhuangyidan Granules on liver injury in rats with severe acute pancreatitis

AIM: To investigate the protective effect of Jinhuangyidan Granules on liver injury in rats with severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) and to explore the possible mechanisms involved.

METHODS: Fifty-four male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into three groups: sham operation group, SAP group and Jinhuangyidan Granules group. Each group was further divided into three subgroups for testing at different time points after treatment (2, 6 and 12 h). SAP was induced by retrograde injection of 5% sodium taurocholate into the biliary pancreatic duct. Serum amylase (AMY), ALT, AST and the liver coefficient were measured. The levels of TNF-α, IL-6 and ET-1 were examined by ELISA, and the expression of NF-κB in the liver was evaluated by immunohistochemistry.

RESULTS: Compared to the sham operation group, the levels of AMY, ALT, AST, TNF-α, IL-6, ET-1 and NF-κB increased significantly in the SAP group. The liver coefficient also differed significantly between the sham operation group and SAP group at 6 and 12 h (both P < 0.05). Compared to the SAP group at 6 and 12 h, the levels of AMY, ALT, AST, TNF-α, IL-6, ET-1 and NF-κB decreased significantly in the Jinhuangyidan Granules group (all P < 0.05). At 6 h, the expression of liver NF-κB was significantly higher in the SAP group than in the sham operation group at 6 and 12 h (6 h: 49.89 ± 3.53 vs 5.32 ± 0.24; 12 h: 54.73 ± 1.68 vs 6.38 ± 0.24, both P < 0.05), but was significantly lower in the Jinhuangyidan Granules group than in the SAP group (6 h: 19.18 ± 1.51 vs 49.89 ± 3.53; 31.15 ± 2.25 vs 54.73 ± 1.68, both P < 0.05). Compared to the SAP group, the levels of edema and inflammatory mediators ameliorated significantly in the Jinhuangyidan Granules group.

CONCLUSION: Jinhuangyidan Granules ameliorates liver injury and improve microcirculation in SAP rats possibly by inhibiting NF-κB activity and down-regulating inflammatory mediators.

Huangqi Injection reduces NF-κB activity and down-regulates TNF-α mRNA expression in rats with acute pancreatitis

AIM: To investigate the effects of Huangqi Injection on nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) activity and NF-κB and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) mRNA expression in rats with acute pancreatitis.

METHODS: Sixty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into five groups: sham-operation group, model control group, and low- [0.10 mL/(100 g•d)], medium- [0.15 mL/(100 g•d)] and high-dose [0.20 mL/(100 g•d)] Huangqi Injection groups. Acute pancreatitis was induced by injection of 5% sodium taurocholate [0.10 mL/(100 g•d)] into the pancreatic duct of rats. Huangqi Injection was injected into the tail vein 30 min before sodium taurocholate injection in the three treatment groups. The rats were killed 6 h after sodium taurocholate injection. The histomorphologic structure of the pancreas was observed under an optical microscope, and the severity of pancreatitis was evaluated using a pathologic grading system. The NF-κB activity in pancreatic acinar cells was determined by immunohistochemistry. The expression of NF-κB and TNF-α mRNAs in the pancreas was measured by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).

RESULTS: Compared with the sham-operation group, the pathologic grading score, NF-κB activity and TNF-α mRNA expression level increased obviously in the model group (both P < 0.01). The pathologic grading score, NF-κB activity and TNF-α mRNA expression level were significantly lower in the treatment groups than in the model group (all P < 0.05 or 0.01). A positive correlation was noted between NF-κB activity and TNF-α mRNA expression level (r = 0.542, P < 0.05). No significant difference was noted in NF-κB mRNA expression level among each group (all P > 0.01).

CONCLUSION: NF-κB activity and TNF-α mRNA expression are closely related with the severity of acute pancreatitis. Active NF-κB may play an important role in the pathogenesis of acute pancreatitis by up-regulating TNF-α mRNA expression. Huangqi Injection can significantly decrease NF-κB activity and TNF-α mRNA expression and therefore alleviate pancreatic injury in rats with acute pancreatitis.