Wang GY, Shang D, Zhang GX, Song HY, Jiang N, Liu HH, Chen HL. Qingyi decoction attenuates intestinal epithelial cell injury via the calcineurin/nuclear factor of activated T-cells pathway. World J Gastroenterol 2022; 28(29): 3825-3837 [PMID: 36157544 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v28.i29.3825]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Hai-Long Chen, PhD, Chief Physician, Department of General Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, No. 222 Zhongshan Road, Dalian 116011, Liaoning Province, China. hailongchen2014@yeah.net
Research Domain of This Article
Integrative & Complementary Medicine
Article-Type of This Article
Basic Study
Open-Access Policy of This Article
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/
Guan-Yu Wang, Dong Shang, Gui-Xin Zhang, Hai-Long Chen, Department of General Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian 116011, Liaoning Province, China
Guan-Yu Wang, Dong Shang, Gui-Xin Zhang, Nan Jiang, Huan-Huan Liu, Hai-Long Chen, Institute of Integrative Medicine of Dalian Medical University, Dalian 116044, Liaoning Province, China
Hui-Yi Song, Laboratory of Integrative Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian 116011, Liaoning Province, China
Author contributions: Wang GY, Shang D, and Chen HL designed the research; Wang GY, Jiang N, and Liu HH performed the research; Song HY, Wang GY and Zhang GX analyzed the data; Wang GY and Chen HL wrote the paper.
Supported bythe National Key R and D Program of China, No. 2019YFE0119300; National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 82074158; Project funded by China Postdoctoral Science Foundation, No. 2018M631793; Natural Science Foundation of Liaoning Province, No. 2019-ZD-0624; and Dalian Traditional Chinese Medicine-Related Scientific Research Project, No. 18Z2002.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: This study was approved by the Animal Experimental Ethics Committee of Dalian Medical University (No. AEE19003).
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
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 article 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: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Hai-Long Chen, PhD, Chief Physician, Department of General Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, No. 222 Zhongshan Road, Dalian 116011, Liaoning Province, China. hailongchen2014@yeah.net
Received: September 18, 2021 Peer-review started: September 18, 2021 First decision: December 4, 2021 Revised: December 15, 2021 Accepted: July 8, 2022 Article in press: July 8, 2022 Published online: August 7, 2022 Processing time: 319 Days and 6.4 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background
Severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) is a severe acute abdominal disease characterized by high morbidity and mortality. A considerable amount of literature has demonstrated that intestinal barrier dysfunction is a significant contributory factor to SAP development. Qingyi decoction (QYD) has been used to treat acute pancreatitis in China for many years.
Research motivation
The protective functions of QYD against intestinal mucosa injuries caused by SAP will provide new therapeutic information on SAP.
Research objectives
To research the function and mechanism of QYD in treating intestinal mucosa injuries caused by SAP.
Research methods
A rat model of SAP was created. Hematoxylin and eosin staining of pancreatic and intestinal tissue was performed. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to estimate the concentrations of tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-6, D-lactic acid, and diamine oxidase (DAO). Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick-end labeling was carried out to assess intestinal epithelial cell (IEC) apoptosis. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, western blotting, and immunofluorescence were used to determine the expression of calcineurin (CaN) and nuclear factor of activated T-cells (NFATc3). MTT and confocal laser scanning microscope were used to detect cell viability and intracellular calcium levels in vitro studies.
Research results
In this study, the severity of SAP in the QYD group was attenuated. In addition, the levels of IEC apoptosis declined in the QYD group. QYD significantly restrained CaN and NFATc3 gene expression in the intestine. Further study indicated that QYD serum significantly decreased the lipopolysaccharide-induced elevation in intracellular free Ca2+ levels and cell death.
Research conclusions
This research demonstrated that the CaN/NFATc3 pathway might play a key role in IEC injury caused by SAP and that QYD can exert protective effects, at least partially, by restraining IEC apoptosis via the CaN/NFATc3 pathway.
Research perspectives
This study provides insight into the function and mechanism of QYD in the treatment of intestinal mucosa injuries caused by SAP in vivo and in vitro experiments, thereby providing theoretical support for the clinical application of QYD.
