ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the biological indicators of diagnosis and treatment of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and to explore the mechanism of action of a Chinese medicine Wuji Pill (WJW) on irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Methods (1) Postinflammatory irritable bowel syndrome (PI-IBS) rat model was established by acetic acid plus restraint stress method . (2) The colonic motor ability of rats was evaluated by colon motility index (MI), the number of fecal particles discharged within 2 h, and the time of glass pellet discharge. (3) The formation of PI-IBS model rats and the therapeutic effect of WJW were observed. (4) The levels of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), motilin (MTL), neuropeptide Y (NPY), substance P (SP), somatostatin (SS), vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), and cholecystokinin (CCK) in the brain and colon tissues of PI-IBS rats were measured by ELISA. Results (1) The rat PI-IBS model was successfully established. Compared with the normal group, the body weight of the model rats was decreased, the food intake decreased, the amount of feces increased, loose stools and amorphous soft stools appeared, voluntary movements decreased, colon motility index ( MI) significantly increased ( P ＜ 0. 05 ), the number of fecal particles discharged significantly increased ( P＜ 0. 05), and the glass pellet discharge time was significantly shortened ( P ＜ 0. 05). (2) WJW treatment for 7 days significantly improved a variety of symptoms. Compared with the normal control, the levels of CGRP, SS and VIP in the brain tissue of PI-IBS rats were significantly increased (P＜ 0. 05), and the NPY concentration was significantly decreased ( P ＜ 0. 05). However, the treatment with WJW significantly reduced CGRP, SS and VIP levels (P＜ 0. 05), and significantly increased the NPY concentration level (P ＜ 0. 05). (3) Compared with the normal control group, the levels of CCK, NPY, MTL, SS and VIP in colonic tissues of PI-IBS rats were significantly decreased (P＜ 0. 05), while WJW significantly increased the CCK and VIP levels. Conclusions WJW can be used to treat IBS by regulating the levels of various brain-gut peptides in the brain and colon tissues of IBS rats. These anomalous and adjustable brain-gut peptides may become a potential biomarker for the diagnosis and treatment of IBS.
ABSTRACT
Neurodegenerative diseases are threating our health seriously.Inflammation plays an important role in the initiation and development of neurodegenerative diseases, and its primary characteristics are the activation of microglia and the increasing level of inflammation cytokines.This review describes the relationship between neuroinflammation and several neurodegenerative diseases, and the models in vivo and in vitro.In addition, combining with traditional Chinese medicines knowledge of encephalopathy, we summarizes pharmacological effects and mechanisms of multiple herb extracts and monomer compounds in preventing the activation of microglia and inhibiting neuroinflammation, thus, to provide the basis for gradually revealing the related rules and characteristics of treating encephalopathy by traditional Chinese medicine, and improving the accuracy of the clinical drugs, as well as developing new drugs for the prevention and control of encephalopathy.