ABSTRACT
Background: The etiology and pathogenesis of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) are not yet clear, and is lack of effective means for its prevention, diagnosis and treatment in clinic. In recent years, more and more studies showed that intestinal local mucosal immune dysfunction plays an important role in the pathogenesis of IBS. Aims: To investigate the role of intestinal dendritic cells (DC) in the imbalance of colonic mucosal Th1/Th2 immune response pathway in IBS with diarrhea (IBS-D) rats and its effect on visceral hypersensitivity. Methods: Forty-five adult SD rats were randomly divided into blank control group, NS control group and model group, and each group consisted of 15 rats. Visceral hypersensitive model was established by acetic acid enema combined with restraint stress. Abdominal withdrawal reflex (AWR) test and fecal characteristics were used to evaluate the visceral sensitivity. Flow cytometry separation technique was used to isolate DC from mesenteric lymph nodes and CD4