Therapeutic effect of tetrandrine on silicosis rats and its toxic effect on liver and kidney function / 中国职业医学

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To explore the therapeutic effect of tetrandrine(TET) on silicosis model rats and its toxic effect on liver and kidney function. METHODS: The specific pathogen free healthy male Wistar rats were randomly divided into the control group, the model group and the TET group, with 14 rats in each group. By un-exposure tracheal injection method, the rats in the model and TET groups were given one-time tracheal infusion of free silicon dioxide suspension with a mass concentration of 50 g/L to establish the rat model of silicosis. Rats in the control group were infused with 1 mL of 0.9% sodium chloride solution with the same method. On the second day after the model was established, the TET group was given 30 mg/kg body mass of TET solution by gavage. The other two groups were given the same amount of 0.9% sodium chloride solution. The treatment was once per day, six times per week. Seven rats in each group were sacrificed on the 28 th and 56 th days after modeling. The morphological change of the lung, liver and kidney tissues of each group was observed. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to detect the level of tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α), transforming growth factor-β1(TGF-β1), interleukin(IL)-1β and IL-6, in the lung tissues of rats in each group. The activities of aminotransferase(ALT), aspartate aminotransferase(AST) and the levels blood urea nitrogen(BUN), creatinine(CRE) were detected by automatic biochemical analyzer. RESULTS: The lung organ coefficients of rats in the TET group were lower than those of the model group on the 28 th and 56 th days(all P<0.05). The lung organ coefficient of the rats in the TET group on the 56 th day was higher than that in the same group on the 28 th day(P<0.05). The lung tissue structure of the control group was normal. After modeling, the lung tissues of rats in model group showed different degrees of pathological changes such as alveolar structure destruction, inflammatory cell infiltration, and fibrosis on the 28 th and 56 th days. The degree of pathological changes in TET group was less than that of the model group. In the lung tissues of rats in the model group, the levels of TNF-α, TGF-β1, IL-1β and IL-6 were higher than those of the control group(all P<0.01). The levels of TNF-α, TGF-β1, IL-1β and IL-6 in the lung tissues of rats in the TET group were lower than that of the model group(all P<0.01), but there was no statistically significant difference when compared with the control group(all P>0.05). The activities of ALT and AST in the TET group were higher than those in the model group and the control group(all P<0.01). The level of serum BUN in TET group was higher than that in control group(P<0.01), but it showed no statistical difference when compared with the control group(P>0.05). The level of serum CRE in each group showed no significant difference(P>0.05). There were no abnormal pathological changes found in the liver and kidney tissues of rats in each group at different times. CONCLUSION: TET can reduce the inflammatory response in silicosis rats and improve lung tissue fibrosis; however, the therapeutic dose may have certain toxicity to the liver and kidney of the silicosis rats.