Effect of Yiqi Xiaozheng Recipe on the expression of MMP-9 and TIMP-1 in rats with COPD

Objective: To observe the effect of YiqiXiaozheng Recipe on the expression of MMP-9 and TIMP-1 in rats with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease(COPD), and investigate the mechanism of preventing and treating COPD. Methods: 30 rats were randomly divided into normal group, model group and YiqiXiaozheng group, with 10 rats in each group. The rat model of COPD was established by passive smoking and intratracheal instillation of lipopolysaccharide(LPS), except the normal group. From the 2nd day, the model group and the YiqiXiaozheng group were given 0.9% sodium chloride and YiqiXiaozheng recipe respectively. On the 113rd day, all the rats were sacrificed, and the expression of MMP-9 and TIMP-1 were detected by immunohistochemistry method. Results: Compared with the normal group, the expressions of MMP-9 and TIMP-1of model group increased while the MMP-9/TIMP-1 ratio decreased, the differences were statistically significant(P0.05); Compared with model group, the expressions of MMP-9 and TIMP-1of YiqiXiaozheng group decreased while the MMP-9/TIMP-1 ratio increased, the difference of the expression of TIMP-1 was statistically significant(P0.05). Conclusion: YiqiXiaozheng recipe can prevent and treat COPD by reducing the expression of MMP-9 and TIMP-1on airway epithelium in rat with COPD, regulating the MMP-9/ TIMP-1 ratio balance, of which decreasing the expression of TIMP-1 and the effect of improving airway remodeling were more obvious.