Abstract:

Objective To investigate the improvement effects of oil and ethanol extract of Atractylodes rhizome on the dextran sodium sulfate （DSS）-induced ulcerative colitis （UC） in the mice， and to provide the experimental basis for the clinical application of Atractylodes rhizome. Methods Forty male BALB/c mice were randomly divided into normal group， model group， Atractylodes rhizome oil （0.185 g·kg^－1） group， Atractylodes rhizome ethanol extract （1.107 g·kg^－1） group and sulfasalazine （0.250 g·kg^－1） group， with 8 mice in each group.The UC mouse model was established by freely drinking 3.5% DSS solution. The body weights and disease activity index （DAI） scores of the mice in various groups were detected. After dissecting the mice， the colon lengthes were detected and the spleen coefficient of mice in various groups were calculated.The myeloperoxidase（MPO） activities in colon tissue of the mice in various groups were detected by MPO kit， the pathomorphology of colon tissue of the mice in various groups was observed by HE staining， the expression levels of the tumor neosis factor-α（TNF-α），interleukin-1β（IL-1β） and interleukin-6（IL-6） mRNA in colon tissue of the mice in various groups were detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR （RT-qPCR） method，the positive expressions of inflammatory factors in colon tissue of the mice in various groups were detected by immunohistochemical staining，and alcian blue-periodic acid-Schiff（AB-PAS） staining was used to observe the number of goblet cells in colon tissue of the mice in various groups. Results Compared with normal group， the body weights of the mice in model group on the 7th and 8th days were decreased （P<0.05）， the DAI scores on the 4th－8th days were increased （P<0.05）， the colon lengthes were decreased （P<0.05）， the spleen coefficients were increased （P<0.05）， the MPO activities in colon tissue were increased （P<0.05）， the colon tissue was seriously damaged， the expression levels of TNF-α，IL-1β and IL-6 mRNA on the 4th－8th days were increased（P<0.05）， the positive expressions of inflammatory factors were increased， and the number of goblet cells was decreased. Compared with model group， the body weights of the mice in Atractylodes rhizome oil group， Atractylodes rhizome ethanol extract group and sulfasalazine group on the 7th and 8th days were increased，but the difference was not statistically significant（P>0.05）， the DAI scores on the 6th－8th days were decreased （P<0.05）， the colon lengthes were increased （P<0.05）， the spleen coefficients were decreased （P<0.05）， the MPO activities in colon tissue were decreased （P<0.05）， the injury degrees of colon tissue were alleviated，the expression levels of TNF-α，IL-1β and IL-6 mRNA in colon tissue were decreased（P<0.05）， the positive expressions of inflammatory factors were decreased， and the number of goblet cells was increased. Compared with Atractylodes rhizome oil group， the MPO activity in colon tissue of Atractylodes rhizome ethanol extract group was decreased， but the difference was not statistically significant（P>0.05）； the expression levels of TNF-α，IL-1β and IL-6 mRNA were decreased（P<0.05）， and the number of goblet cells was increased. Conclusion The oil and ethanol extract of Atractylodes rhizome have improvement effects in the UC model mice. At the same dose， the ethanol extract of Atractylodes rhizome can improve UC in the mice better.

Key words: Atractylodes rhizome, Ulcerative colitis, Tumor necrosis factor-α, Interleukin-1β, Interleukin-6, Goblet cell