Effect of Xuebijing injection on the levels of inflammation mediators in serum in a rat model of sepsis

Objective To observe the effect of injecting Xuebijing via different routes,as either treatment or pretreatment,on the changes of levels of inflammation mediators in serum in a rat model of sepsis. Methods Ninety-one healthy Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into five groups : ① control group, ② sepsis group, ③ intragastric pretreatment group, ④ intravenous pretreatment group, ⑤ intravenous treatment group. Sepsis was induced by cecal ligation and puncture(CLP). For the pretreatment groups, Xuebijing was administered either via intragastricly or intravenously 2hours before CLP at a dose of 5 ml/kg. For the treatment animals, Xuebijing was intravenously infused 2 hours after CLP at a dose of 5 mL/kg. The levels of tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α), nitric oxide(NO), and endothelin-1(ET-1)in serum were detected at the different observation time. Results The levels of inflammation mediators in serum were significantly decreased in pretreatment and treatment groups compared with the untreated sepsis group, more obviously in pretreatment group(P 0.05). The levels of inflammation mediators were significantly decreased in the intravenous pretreatment group compared with the intragastric pretreatment group(P0.05). Conclusion Irrespective of the route,the administration of Xuebijing significant decreased the levels of inflammation mediators in serum and intravenous pretreatment exerted the most significant depressive effect in this rat model of sepsis.