Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2017. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jul 14, 2017; 23(26): 4724-4734
Published online Jul 14, 2017. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v23.i26.4724
Jianpi Qingchang decoction regulates intestinal motility of dextran sulfate sodium-induced colitis through reducing autophagy of interstitial cells of Cajal
Yan-Cheng Dai, Lie Zheng, Ya-Li Zhang, Xuan Chen, De-Liang Chen, Li-Juan Wang, Zhi-Peng Tang
Yan-Cheng Dai, Xuan Chen, De-Liang Chen, Department of Gastroenterology, Longhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200032, China
Lie Zheng, Ya-Li Zhang, Zhi-Peng Tang, Institute of Digestive Diseases, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200032, China
Li-Juan Wang, Experimental Teaching Center, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China
Author contributions: Dai YC performed the majority of the experiments and analyzed the data; Zhang YL and Chen X participated in the treatment of animals; Chen DL and Wang LJ performed the histological experiments; Dai YC and Tang ZP designed and coordinated the research; Dai YC and Zheng L wrote and revised the paper.
Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81403355 and No. 81573892; and the Project of 3-Year Action Plan for Shanghai Municipal Chinese Medicine Development, No. ZY3-RCPY-2-2001.
Institutional review board statement: This study was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Institute of Digestive Disease, Longhua Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: All procedures involving animals were reviewed and approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (No. SZY201510002).
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest related to this study.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Zhi-Peng Tang, MD, PhD, Professor, Director, Institute of Digestive Diseases, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 725 Wanping Road, Shanghai 200032, China. zhipengtang@sohu.com
Telephone: +86-21-64385700 Fax: +86-21-64398310
Received: February 20, 2017
Peer-review started: February 22, 2017
First decision: April 5, 2017
Revised: April 30, 2017
Accepted: June 18, 2017
Article in press: June 19, 2017
Published online: July 14, 2017
Abstract
AIM

To investigate the underlying effect of Jianpi Qingchang decoction (JQD) regulating intestinal motility of dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis in mice.

METHODS

C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into four groups: the control group, the DSS group, the JQD group, and the 5-aminosalicylic acid group. Except for the control group, colitis was induced in other groups by giving distilled water containing 5% DSS. Seven days after modeling, the mice were administered corresponding drugs intragastrically. The mice were sacrificed on the 15th day. The disease activity index, macroscopic and histopathologic lesions, and ultrastructure of colon interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) were observed. The levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-10 and interferon gamma (IFN-γ), the expression of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) p65, c-kit, microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3-II) and Beclin-l mRNA, and the colonic smooth muscle tension were assessed.

RESULTS

Acute inflammation occurred in the mice administered DSS. Compared with the control group, the levels of IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-10 and IFN-γ, the expression of LC3-II, Beclin-1 and NF-κB p65 mRNA, and the contractile frequency increased (P < 0.05), the expression of c-kit mRNA and the colonic smooth muscle contractile amplitude decreased in the DSS group (P < 0.05). Compared with the DSS group, the levels of IL-10 and IFN-γ, the expression of c-kit mRNA, and the colonic smooth muscle contractile amplitude increased (P < 0.05), the levels of TNF-α and IL-1β, the expression of LC3-II, Beclin-1 and NF-κB p65 mRNA, and the contractile frequency decreased in the JQD group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

JQD can regulate the intestinal motility of DSS-induced colitis in mice through suppressing intestinal inflammatory cascade reaction, reducing autophagy of ICC, and regulating the network path of ICC/smooth muscle cells.

Keywords: Intestinal motility, Interstitial cells of Cajal, Autophagy, Ulcerative colitis, Jianpi Qingchang decoction

Core tip: Interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) lead to a variety of changes in the physiological properties of the neurons in the related circuitry, which then affects gastrointestinal motility. Therefore, ICC have been accepted as a therapeutic target for gastrointestinal motility disorders. It is demonstrated in the current study that Jianpi Qingchang decoction can regulate the intestinal motility of dextran sulfate sodium-induced colitis in mice through suppressing intestinal inflammatory cascade reaction, reducing autophagy of ICC, and regulating the network path of ICC/smooth muscle cells.