Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2020. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jan 7, 2020; 26(1): 55-69
Published online Jan 7, 2020. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v26.i1.55
Synergistic protection of astragalus polysaccharides and matrine against ulcerative colitis and associated lung injury in rats
Xin Yan, Qing-Ge Lu, Li Zeng, Xiao-Hai Li, Yu Liu, Xue-Feng Du, Guo-Min Bai
Xin Yan, College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, North China University of Science and Technology, Tangshan 063210, Hebei Province, China
Qing-Ge Lu, Li Zeng, Xiao-Hai Li, Yu Liu, Xue-Feng Du, Guo-Min Bai, Department of Anorectal Medicine, Tangshan Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Tangshan 063000, Hebei Province, China
Author contributions: Yan X and Lu QG designed the research; Li XH and Liu Y performed the research; Zeng L and Bai GM analyzed the data; Du XF wrote the paper.
Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81704059.
Institutional review board statement: This study was reviewed and approved by the North China University of Science and Technology Ethics Committee.
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 North China University of Science and Technology.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
ARRIVE guidelines statement: The authors have read the ARRIVE guidelines, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the ARRIVE guidelines.
Open-Access: This is an open-access article that 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/
Corresponding author: Xin Yan, PhD, Professor, College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, North China University of Science and Technology, No. 21, Bohai Avenue, Caofeidian New Town, Tangshan 063210, Hebei Province, China. y18301212703@163.com
Received: November 11, 2019
Peer-review started: November 11, 2019
First decision: November 22, 2019
Revised: November 29, 2019
Accepted: December 14, 2019
Article in press: December 14, 2019
Published online: January 7, 2020
Processing time: 56 Days and 22 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a main form of inflammatory bowel disease. Due to complicated etiology and a high rate of recurrence, it is quite essential to elucidate the underlying mechanism of and search for effective therapeutic methods for UC.

AIM

To investigate the effects of astragalus polysaccharides (APS) combined with matrine on UC and associated lung injury.

METHODS

UC was induced in rats by colon mucosal tissue sensitization combined with trinitro-benzene-sulfonic acid-ethanol. Then, the effects of the treatments of salazopyrine, APS, matrine, and APS combined with matrine on histopathological changes of lung and colon tissues, disease activity index (DAI), colon mucosal damage index (CMDI), serum endotoxin (ET) level, serum diamine oxidase (DAO) activity, the contents of tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-1β, and the activities of myeloperoxidase, superoxide dismutase, and malondialdehyde in lung tissues, as well as the protein expression of zonula occludens (ZO)-1, Occludin, and trefoil factor 3 (TFF3) were detected in UC rats.

RESULTS

The treatments of salazopyrine, APS, matrine, and APS combined with matrine reduced DAI scores and improved histopathological changes of colon and lung tissues, as well as decreased CMDI scores, ET levels, and DAO activities in UC rats. Moreover, in lung tissues, inflammatory response and oxidative stress injury were relieved after the treatments of salazopyrine, APS, matrine, and APS combined with matrine in UC rats. Furthermore, the expression of ZO-1, Occludin, and TFF3 in lung and colon tissues was increased after different treatments in UC rats. Notably, APS combined with matrine exerted a better protective effect against UC and lung injury compared with other treatments.

CONCLUSION

APS combined with matrine exert a synergistic protective effect against UC and lung injury, which might be associated with regulating TFF3 expression.

Keywords: Astragalus polysaccharides; Matrine; Ulcerative colitis; Lung injury; Trinitro-benzene-sulfonic acid-ethanol; Trefoil factor 3

Core tip: The results of the present study show that astragalus polysaccharides combined with matrine exert a synergistic protective effect against ulcerative colitis and lung injury, which might be associated with regulating trefoil factor 3 expression.