Effect of Xiangsha Liu Junzitang on Gastric Motility and CRF and UCN2 Expression in Rats with Functional Dyspepsia Due to Spleen Deficiency / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ABSTRACT

ObjectiveTo observe the effects of Xiangsha Liu Junzitang （XSLJZ） on gastric emptying rate and expression levels of corticotropin-releasing factor （CRF） and urocortin 2 （UCN2） in rats with functional dyspepsia （FD） due to spleen deficiency. MethodForty-eight 10-day-old male SD rats were randomly divided into the normal group （n=8） and iodoacetamide （IA） group （n=40）， and they separately received 2% sucrose solution and 0.1% sucrose solution containing IA for six successive days. Following the removal of mother rats， the three-week-old IA-treated rats were randomized into five groups， namely the model group， mosapride group， and low-， middle-， and high-dose XSLJZ groups， with eight rats in each group. At the age of six weeks， rats in all groups expert for the normal group were modeled by the modified multiple platform method for 14 d. Afterwards， the ones in normal group and model group were treated with 10 mL·kg-1 distilled water， and those in the treatment groups with 1.6×10-3 g·kg-1 mosapride and 2.8， 5.6， and 11.2 g·kg-1 XSLJZ by gavage， respectively， for 14 d. The grasping ability and gastric emptying rate were determined. The histological changes in gastric antrum were observed by hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining. The protein and mRNA expression levels of CRF and UCN2 in gastric antrum were detected by Western blot and real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction （Real-time PCR）. ResultNo obvious change or organic lesion was observed in gastric antrum of rats in each group. Compared with the normal group， the model group exhibited lowered gastric emptying rate and grasping ability （P<0.01）， up-regulated CRF protein and mRNA expression in gastric antrum （P<0.01）， and down-regulated UCN2 protein and mRNA expression （P<0.05， P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， XSLJZ at the middle and high doses enhanced the grasping ability and gastric emptying rate （P<0.05， P<0.01） and down-regulated CRF mRNA expression to varying degrees （P<0.05， P<0.01）. XSLJZ at the high dose decreased CRF protein expression （P<0.05） and up-regulated UCN2 protein and mRNA expression （P<0.01）. ConclusionThe mechanism of XSLJZ in invigorating spleen and promoting gastric motility of FD rats may be related to its reduction of CRF and elevation of UCN2 in gastric antrum.