Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2018. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jan 7, 2018; 24(1): 35-45
Published online Jan 7, 2018. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v24.i1.35
Emodin and baicalein inhibit sodium taurocholate-induced vacuole formation in pancreatic acinar cells
Jun Li, Rui Zhou, Bei-Bei Bie, Na Huang, Ying Guo, Hai-Yan Chen, Meng-Jiao Shi, Jun Yang, Jian Zhang, Zong-Fang Li
Jun Li, Rui Zhou, Bei-Bei Bie, Na Huang, Ying Guo, Hai-Yan Chen, Meng-Jiao Shi, Jun Yang, Jian Zhang, Zong-Fang Li, National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Biodiagnostics and Biotherapy, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710004, Shaanxi Province, China
Author contributions: Li J and Zhou R contributed equally to this work; Li J, Zhou R and Li ZF designed the research; Li J and Zhou R performed the research; Bie BB, Huang N, Guo Y, Chen HY and Shi MJ contributed new reagents/analytic tools; Li J, Zhou R, Yang J and Zhang J analyzed the data; Li J, Zhou R, Zhang J and Li ZF wrote the paper.
Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 30901945; Science Research Foundation of Shaanxi Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 15-ZY029; and Science Research Foundation of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, No. RC(XM)201602.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University (Xi’an, China).
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: All animal procedures were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Xi’an Jiaotong University Health Science Center and performed according to the National Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Data sharing statement: No additional unpublished data are available.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: Zong-Fang Li, MD, PhD, National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Biodiagnostics and Biotherapy, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710004, Shaanxi Province, China. lzf2568@xjtu.edu.cn
Telephone: +86-29-87678002 Fax: +86-29-87678634
Received: August 31, 2017
Peer-review started: September 3, 2017
First decision: September 27, 2017
Revised: November 23, 2017
Accepted: November 27, 2017
Article in press: November 27, 2017
Published online: January 7, 2018
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) is a debilitating disease with significant morbidity and mortality. Somatostatin analogue octreotide is the most frequently used drug but not all patients can afford its high cost and short half-life in vivo. Guided by the theories of TCM and modern medicine and the compatibility of herbs, we refined the classic prescription Qingyi decoction and combined emodin and baicalein into “Compound Emodin and Baicalein” (CEB, patent No. ZL200310105814.3). This research may provide a novel, safe, effective, and inexpensive drug for SAP treatment in the future.

Research motivation

The aim of this study was to explicate the effect and mechanism of CEB in SAP therapy and provides potential clinical benefits for the future treatment of SAP.

Research objectives

The SAP rats and the isolated pancreatic acinar cells were the main objectives in this study. Meanwhile, they also served as the main objectives of research on SAP at the cellular and organism levels.

Research methods

Retrograde infusion of 5% sodium taurocholate into the pancreatic duct is the frequently used method for SAP model induction. Serum cytokine levels were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Tissue section were stained using haematoxylin and eosin (H&E) for histopathologic detection. Pancreatic acinar cells were isolated using collagenase digestion and the cell viability was determined using an MTT assay. Cell ultrastructure was observed using a transmission electron microscope. Intracellular Ca2+ concentration was determined using a live cell imaging system. The protein and mRNA levels of IP3R were quantified by RT-PCR and Western blot, respectively.

Research results

The results showed that CEB can regulate inflammatory factors, increase cell viability, and inhibit calcium overload, which underlie a preliminary mechanism of CEB in SAP. Although research on CEB remains at the preclinical level, and data on its use in humans are lacking, CEB may be a potential future treatment for SAP, suggesting that further studies are needed.

Research conclusions

Emodin and baicalein display synergistic effects on SAP rats. CEB acts on the key aspects of SAP pathogenesis and regulates of inflammatory factors in SAP rats. CEB suppresses IP3R-mediated pancreatic acinar Ca2+ overload via inhibiting IP3R mRNA expression in pancreatic acinar cells. As a non-toxic natural product, CEB is the first to show a therapeutic effect at the cellular and organism levels in SAP. CEB is promising for the treatment of patients with SAP.

Research perspectives

From this study, the characteristics of abundance, low cost, and safety of traditional Chinese medicine in SAP therapy should catch our attention. We think that the potential of traditional Chinese medicine in SAP therapy will be the direction of the future research. In our opinion, the SAP animal model and the isolated pancreatic acinar cells will always be the main avenues in this study.