RESUMO
Objective To study the effect ofRunfei Zhisou Pills (RZP) on cell apoptosis in rat model of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and its mechanism.Methods Totally 32 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into control group,model group,1-month RZP group,and 3-month RZP group.Rats in 1-month and 3-month RZP group,received RZP of 0.9 g/kg once daily for 1 and 3 months respectively,and rats in control and model groups received water with equal volume for 1 month.The rat COPD model was established using tobacco smoke combined with intratracheal instillation of LPS.Morphological changes of lung tissue in COPD rats were observed with HE staining under light microscope.The VEGF levels in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were detected by ELISA.The VEGF and VEGFR2 protein expression in lung tissues was measured by Western blotting.Cell apoptosis in lung tissues was detected with TUNEL method,and apoptosis index (AI) was counted.Results Compared with control group,the pathological changes of lung tissue in model group were obvious,the AI significantly increased,VEGF in BALF and VEGF and VEGFR2 in lung tissue decreased significantly.Compared with model group,morphological improvement of lung tissue was obvious,the AI significantly decreased,and VEGF in BALF,VEGF and VEGFR2 in lung tissue increased significantly in 1-month and 3-month RZP groups.Conclusion RZP can inhibit cell apoptosis of COPD,and the mechanism may be related with up-regulation of VEGF and VEGFR2.