Objective To investigate the regulatory actions of
Intestines -unblocking, Turbid-purging Recipe (ITR) on colonic
5-hydroxytryptamine (
5-HT ) and its receptor
5-hydroxytryptamine 3 (5-HT3) in
rats with
constipation -dominant
irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-C), and to explore the
therapeutic mechanism of ITR in treating IBS-C.
Methods Forty-two
male SD
rats were randomly divided into 6 groups, namely normal group, model group, western
medicine group, high-, middle- and low-
dose Chinese medicine groups, 7
rats in each group. IBS-C
rat model was established by intragastric
administration of
ice water . After establishment of the model, western
medicine group was given intragastric
administration of
Cisapride Tablets (at the
dosage of 3.6 mg·kg-1·d-1),
Chinese medicine groups were given intragastric
administration of various dosages of ITR granules (18.5, 9.25, 4.625 g·kg-1·d-1 respectively) , and the model group was given intragastric
administration of
normal saline , the
treatment lasting 14 d. The
rats in various groups were given normal
feeding and
drinking .
After treatment , HE
staining method was used to observe pathological changes in the intestinal
tissue ,
immunohistochemistry method was used to observe the expression levels of intestinal
5-HT and
5-HT3 receptor . Results Compared with the normal group, the expression level of
rat intestinal
5-HT was increased (P < 0.05) and that of
5-HT3 receptor was decreased (P < 0.05) in the model group and the medication groups. Compared with the model group,
5-HT expression level was decreased significantly (P<0.05) and
5-HT3 receptor expression level was increased (P < 0.05) in the medication groups, and the improvement of the middle-
dose Chinese medicine group was more obvious (P < 0.05). Conclusion ITR has
therapeutic efficacy for IBS-C
rats through lowering
5-HT expression and increasing
5-HT3 receptor expression, which results into the improvement of intestinal
sensitivity and abnormal dynamic of the
rats .