[Effect of 5-fluorouracil on modulation of immunity-associated cytokine during severe sepsis in rat].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) on modulation of the disorders of proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines in the severe sepsis as a result of intra-abdominal infection in rat, and to investigate the mechanism of efficacy of 5-FU in the treatment of severe sepsis. METHODS: Thirty female Wistar rats were randomly divided into three groups: control group, severe sepsis group and 5-FU group. Healthy rats served as control (n=10). Severe sepsis was induced by peritoneal injection of 1.8x10(12) cfu/L E. coli with the volume of 10 ml/kg body weight. In the 5-FU group, 50 mg/kg of 5-FU was injected intraperitoneally 40 minutes after severe sepsis was induced. All rats were sacrificed 6 hours after operation. The mortality and the ascites rate were assessed 6 hours after sepsis. At the same time the wet weight of the lung was measured and venous blood was collected for determination of concentrations of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and IL-10. RESULTS: Compared with those of severe sepsis group, the mortality and the ascites rate at 6 hours were decreased significantly in 5-FU group (P<0.05 and P<0.01). The wet weight of lung in severe sepsis group was higher significantly than that in control group (P<0.01). The lung tissue wet weight in 5-FU group was lower than that of severe sepsis group (P<0.05), but it showed no difference when compared with that of control group. The levels of IL-6 and IL-10 in severe sepsis group were higher significantly than those in control group (both P<0.01). The level of IL-6 in 5-FU group was lower than that in severe sepsis group, but with no difference compared with that of control group. The level of IL-10 in 5-FU group was also lower than that in severe sepsis group, but higher than that in control group (both P<0.01). CONCLUSION: 5-FU may lower simultaneously the level of proinflammatory IL-6 and anti-inflammatory IL-10, alleviate lung edema and inflammation. 5-FU has the protective effect against severe sepsis in rat.

[Effects of rhubarb on the immune substances secreted from intestine in mice].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the therapeutic mechanism of rhubarb in protecting the intestinal muco-membranous barrier in the mice. METHOD: Bal b/c mice were divided into 2 groups, gavaged with normal saline and 10% rhubarb decoction, respectively. The animals were killed after 24 hours after the treatments. The intestinal juice was collected after intestinal lavage and centrifuged for determination of IgA, total protein, C3, high density lipoprotein, type II PLA2 activity, and content of lysozyme. At the same time, 40 mg of small intestine were incised in each mouse. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and gel image analysis were performed to detect the content of the cryptdin gene expression. RESULT: The content of IgA, total protein, the C3, lysozyme, and the type II PLA2 activity in intestinal lavaged juice exhibited the statistical differences between the two groups (P < 0.05). There were no significant difference in the ontents of HDL, cryptdin-1 and cryptdin-4 gene expression between the two groups (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Rhubarb could increase secretion of several immune associated substances of the mucous membrane in normal intestine, indicating a possibility to abate the injury of intestine mucus resulted from severe stress induced by trauma, burn and shock. Through above mechanisms Rhubarb may also reduce the incidence of bacterial translocation and systemic inflammatory reaction syndrome (SIRS).