RESUMO
Objective::To study the effect of Yupingfeng granule on the degranulation of skin mast cells in chronic urticaria (CU) rats and the intervention mechanism of interleukin-23(IL-23), interleukin-17(IL-17) inflammation axis. Method::Totally 60 SPF SD rats were selected and randomly divided into normal group (normal saline), model group (normal saline), and loratadine group (0.9 mg·kg-1·d-1), high-dose Yupingfeng granules group (4.05 g·kg-1·d-1), middle-dose group (2.7 g·kg-1·d-1), low-dose group (1.35 g·kg-1·d-1). The CU rat model was reproduced through intraperitoneal injection of ovalbumin with aluminum hydroxide suspension and DTP vaccine. Histopathological changes of rat skin were observed by hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining. Degranulation of mast cells in rat skin was determined by toluidine blue staining. IL-23 and IL-17 protein expressions in skin tissue were determined by immunohistochemistry (IHC). IL-23 and IL-17 mRNA transcription levels in skin tissue were determined by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (Real-time PCR). Result::Yupingfeng granules can significantly alleviate the pathological manifestations of dermal edema, collagen beam distance, inflammatory cell infiltration of CU rats, and reduce the degranulation reaction of skin tissue mast cells in CU rats. The IL-23, IL-17 mRNA and protein expressions of the skin of model group were significantly increased compared with the normal group (P<0.05, P<0.01). Compared with the model group, Yupingfeng granules can significantly down-regulate IL-23 mRNA and protein expressions of CU rats (P<0.05, P<0.01). Yupingfeng granules had no significant regulatory effect on IL-17. Conclusion::Yupingfeng granule can significantly reduce the degranulation of mast cells in skin tissue of CU rats, and improve the pathological manifestations, such as dermal edema, serous exudation and inflammatory cell infiltration. The mechanism may be related to inhibiting the secretion of IL-23 pro-inflammatory cytokines and improving CU lesions.