To investigate the effects of
butyl alcohol extract of Baitouweng Decoction(BAEB) on
neutrophil chemotaxis in vaginal
mucosa of
mice with
vulvovaginal candidiasis(VVC). Seventy-two SPF
female Kunming
mice were randomly divided into normal
control group, model group,
fluconazole group, BAEB low-
dose group, middle-
dose group and high-
dose group.
Subcutaneous injection of
estradiol benzoate was conducted to induce pseudo-
estrus, and then 2×10~6 CFU·mL~(-1)of
Candida albicans was inoculated into vaginal lumen, followed by
drug treatment for 7 days. Gram
staining was used to observe the morphological changes of C. albicans in
vagina; vaginal fungal load was detected on
agar plate. Histological changes of vaginal
tissues in
mice were observed by HE
staining.
Lactate dehydrogenase(LDH),
interleukin-6(
IL-6) and
tumor necrosis factor(TNF-α) levels in
mouse lavage fluid were detected by
enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(
ELISA).
Neutrophils in
vaginal lavage fluid was observed and counted by using
Pap smear. The levels of
IL-8 and MIP-2 in vaginal
mucosa were detected by
ELISA.
IL-8 and MIP-2
mRNA levels in vaginal
mucosa of
mice were detected by qRT-
PCR. The results showed that as compared with the normal group, VVC model group had a large number of
hyphae and a high level of fungal loadinvagina. The vaginal
mucosa was completely destroyed, the number of
neutrophils increased, and the
protein and
mRNA levels of
IL-8 and MIP-2 were up-regulated. After BAEB
treatment, the
hyphae of the
treatment group was decreased, the fungal load was decreased, the impaired
mucosa showed different degrees of improvement, the inflammatory factors were decreased to varying degrees, and the
protein and
mRNA levels of
chemokine IL-8 and MIP-2 were down-regulated. In conclusion, BAEB may be used to treat VVC by inhibiting
vulvovaginal candidiasis via blocking
neutrophils recruitment into
vagina.