RESUMO
BACKGROUND/AIMS: To compare the protective effects of baicalin and octreotide on intestinal mucosa of rats with severe acute pancreatitis and to explore the application value of baicalin as a new drug. METHODS: Severe acute pancreatitis rats were randomly divided into a model control group, baicalin-treated group and octreotide-treated group. An equal number of normal rats were included in a sham-operated group. At 3, 6 and 12 hours (h) after operation, mortality rate, pathological changes in the intestinal mucosa of the terminal ileum, expression levels of nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB, Bax and Bcl-2 proteins, and apoptosis indices in the rats in each group were evaluated. Endotoxin and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha contents in blood were also determined. RESULTS: At 12h after operation, the survival rates in both the baicalin-treated group and octreotide-treated group were higher than in the model control group, and the difference was significant (p<0.05). At all time points after the operation, endotoxin and TNF-alpha values as well as the expression levels of NF-kappaB protein and pathological severity scores in the intestinal mucosa in the two treated groups were, to varying degrees, significantly lower than those in the model control group (p<0.05, p<0.01 and p<0.001, respectively). Moreover, the expression level of Bax protein at 3h postoperatively as well as the expression level of Bax protein and apoptosis indices at 6h postoperatively in the two treated groups were significantly higher than those in the model control group (p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Baicalin and octreotide exert significant protective effects on severe acute pancreatitis-induced intestinal mucosa injury via a mechanism that is associated with inhibiting inflammatory mediators and inducing apoptosis. In comparison with the pharmacological action of octreotide, we believe that baicalin, as a new drug, has similar protective effects on the intestinal mucosa of severe acute pancreatitis rats, and therefore deserves further study and development.