Effect of Dahuang Gancao decoction on intestinal injury caused by acute necrotizing pancreatitis at plateau

Objective To investigate the therapeutic effects of dahuang gancao decoction on intestinal injury caused by plateau acute necrotizing pancreatitis (ANP).Methods Fifty-four Wistar rats were transported from Lanzhou to Maxianshan (altitude 3848 m) for 30 days adaptive feeding,then they were randomly divided into 3 groups (n =18 in each group),namely sham-operated group (SO),P-ANP group (P-ANP),dahuang gancao decoction intervention group (DG).P-ANP model was induced by retrograde injection of 4％ sodium taurocholate into the biliary and pancreatic duct.Dahuang gancao decoction 0.6 ml/100 g weight was gavaged 2 h before and every 12 h after P-ANP model induction.The same volume of normal saline was gavaged in the SO and P-ANP group.After 6,12,24 h,all rats were sacrificed,and pancreas and intestine tissues were harvested to observe the pathological changes.The change of intestinal mucosal ultrastructure was observed under transmission electron microscope.The expression of IL-10,TNF-α in intestinal tissue was determined by ELISA.Results twelve hours after P-ANP induction,the pancreas pathological scores were 0.33 ± 0.52,8.33 ± 0.52,6.17 ± 2.13 ; the intestine pathological scores were 0.17 ±0.41,3.83 ± 1.17,2.17 ± 1.17 in SO group,P-ANP group and DG group.The values in P-ANP group and DG group were significantly higher than that in SO group (P ＜ 0.01),and the corresponding values in DG group were significantly lower than that in P-ANP group (P ＜0.05),and there was a positive association between pancreas and intestine injuries (r =0.796,P ＜ 0.01).The injury of intestinal mucosal ultrastructure in P-ANP groups was severe; however,the injury was less severe in DG group.Twelve hours after ANP induction,the IL-10 levels in intestinal tissue were (136.68 ± 13.98),(762.21 ± 79.58),(896.36±84.87) pg/g; the TNF-α levels in intestinal tissue were (353.05± 76.21),(1913.87± 259.33),(1481.58 ± 231.47) pg/g in SO group,P-ANP group and DG group.The values in P-ANP group and DG group were significantly higher than that in SO group,and the corresponding values of IL-10 in DG group were significantly higher than that in P-ANP group (P ＜ 0.05),but the corresponding values of TNF-α were significantly lower than that in P-ANP group (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions Dahuang gancao decoction may quickly improve intestine injury caused by P-ANP in rats. Key words: Pancreatitis, acute necrotizing ;  Anoxia ;  Intestinal mucosa ;  Permeability ;  Dahuang gancao decoction