Plasma TNF-α and IL-6 levels in rats with intra-abdominal infection under treatment of antibiotics combined with traditional Chinese medicine

Objective To investigate the changes of plasma TNF-α and IL-6 levels in rats with intra-abdominal infection under treatment of antibiotics combined with traditional Chinese medicine.Methods One hundred male SD rats were randomly divided into 5 groups:sham group,control group,imipenem group(20mg/kg),Chinese medicine Xuebijing group(8ml/kg),combination group(imipenem 20mg/kg+Xuebijing 8ml/kg)with 20 in each group.Intra-abdominal infection was induced by ligating and puncturing cecum of animals.Blood samples were taken 2 h or 6 h after operation and plasma TNF-α and IL-6 levels were measured.Results Plasma TNF-α levels in control group reached the peak 2 h(16.70±2.31ng/ml) after operation and declined in 6 h(13.50±2.17ng/ml).In antibiotics group TNF-α levels(2h:13.00±1.41ng/ml;6h:14.20±2.15ng/ml) were lower than those in control group(t=3.153,P0.01) at 2 h after operation and had no difference at 6 h(t=0.860,P0.05).In Xuebijing group(2h:10.30±2.31ng/ml;6h:11.40±1.65ng/ml) and combination group(2h:10.50±1.43ng/ml;6h:10.50±1.08ng/ml) TNF-α levels were significantly lower than those in control group and antibiotics group(P0.01).Plasma IL-6 levels in control group(2h:1441.50±190.95ng/ml;6h:1305.60±208.04ng/ml) were significantly higher than those in sham group(2h:715.40±145.84ng/ml;6h:583.60±140.19ng/ml)(P0.01).Plasma IL-6 levels in all other groups were lower than control group,and those in combination group was lower than those in antibiotics or Xuebijing group(P0.01).Conclusion The combination of Xuebijing and antibiotics(Imipenem) in treatment of intra-abdominal infection can decrease the plasma levels of TNF-α and IL-6 in rats.