Mechanism of aqueous fructus aurantii immaturus extracts in neuroplexus of cathartic colons

Table 1 Primer sequences and amplification length

Gene	Primer sequence	Amplification length (bp)
NF-H	Forward: 5'-GCCCTCACCAAACAGGAAT-3'	147
	Reverse: 5'-GCGTTCAGCAATACATCACG-3'
5-HTR4	Forward: 5'-GCCTTCTACATCCCGTTTCTC-3'	180
	Reverse: 5'-CTTGGCTGCTTTGGTCTCTG-3'
GAPDH	Forward: 5'-GGCACAGTCAAGGCTGAGAATG-3'	252
	Reverse: 5'-ATGGTGGTGAAGACGCCAGTA-3'

GAPDH: Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase; NF-H: Neurofilament-H; 5-HTR4: 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor 4.

Table 2 Intestinal transit rate

Group	n	Pushing length (cm)	Total length (cm)	ITR
Control	12	84.35 ± 10.27	107.82 ± 10.83	78.14 ± 4.26
Model	12	59.51 ± 11.08	92.40 ± 13.14	64.12 ± 5.19b
Mosapride	14	82.40 ± 11.46	117.43 ± 11.48	70.06 ± 7.25bc
FAI-L	14	70.50 ± 17.30	101.90 ± 17.04	68.76 ± 7.48b
FAI-M	13	75.74 ± 16.39	110.93 ± 13.16	67.78 ± 8.00b
FAI-H	14	84.71 ± 13.53	117.73 ± 13.60	72.02 ± 8.74ad

^aP < 0.05,

^bP < 0.01 vs control;

^cP < 0.05,

^dP < 0.01 vs model. ITR: Intestinal transit rate; FAI: Fructus aurantii immaturus; H: High dose (4 g/kg); L: Low dose (1 g/kg); M: Medium dose (2 g/kg).

Table 3 Semi-quantitative analysis of 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor 4 and neurofilament-H protein expression intensity in rat colon tissue

Protein	Control	Model	Mosapride	FAI-L	FAI-M	FAI-H
5-HTR4	161.73 ± 67.56	7.85 ± 4.44b	75.13 ± 92.17bc	19.31 ± 22.41b	26.89 ± 19.04b	23.89 ± 32.09b
NF-H	1064.45 ± 358.96	166.22 ± 230.38b	649.13 ± 306.48ac	219.42 ± 177.20b	420.89 ± 476.75b	631.78 ± 456.29ac

^aP < 0.05,

^bP < 0.01 vs control;

^cP < 0.05 vs model. FAI: Fructus aurantii immaturus; H: High dose (4 g/kg); L: Low dose (1 g/kg); M: Medium dose (2 g/kg); NF-H: Neurofilament-H; 5-HTR4: 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor 4.