Comparative Researches of Semen Arecae and Charred Semen Arecae on Gastrointestinal Motility, Motilin, Substance P, and CCK in Chronically Stressed Rats.

Sanyin Zhang,Jiage Song,Chunjie Wu,Xixiong Li,Peng Yang,Wei Peng,Xin Wang

doi:10.1155/2017/1273561

Abstract

Aims To compare the effects of Semen Arecae (SA) and Charred Semen Arecae (CSA) on gastrointestinal motility, motilin, substance P (SP), and cholecystokinin (CCK) in chronically stressed rats. Methods Rats were randomly divided into control group and stress group. Rats in stress group were randomly exposed to a variety of unpredictable stimulations for 21 days. Then, the rats were treated orally with distilled water, SA, CSA, and mosapride for 7 days. Gastric residue rate and intestinal propulsion rate were evaluated. Serum levels of motilin and SP were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). CCK mRNA was quantified by using quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). Results Both SA and CSA improved the intestinal propulsion and reduced the gastric residue in chronically stressed rats. Furthermore, the serum levels of motilin and SP were significantly higher and the CCK mRNA expressions in intestine and hypothalamus were downregulated in SA and CSA groups. Furthermore, it was found that CSA is more effective. Conclusion Both SA and CSA enhanced gastrointestinal motility and increased serum levels of motilin and SP in chronically stressed rats via downregulating CCK mRNA expressions in intestine and hypothalamus. Importantly, CSA possessed more effective promoting effects.

Highlights

Functional dyspepsia (FD), a common functional gastrointestinal disorder, is dyspepsia without obvious organic disease [1]
The CCK mRNA expressions in small intestine and hypothalamus were significantly lower in Semen Arecae (SA), CA, and Mosapride groups compared to model rats (P < 0.01, Figure 4)
Our present results showed that both SA and Charred Semen Arecae (CSA) have significant promoting effects on gastrointestinal motility in chronically stressed rats

Summary

Introduction

Functional dyspepsia (FD), a common functional gastrointestinal disorder, is dyspepsia without obvious organic disease [1]. Gut-brain peptide such as motilin and substance P (SP) plays important roles in the bidirectional gut-brain communication. SA is commonly processed as charred SA (CSA), and both SA and CSA can improve effects on gastrointestinal motor function [15,16,17]. CSA has been characterized for its improving effects on gastrointestinal motor function and used to alleviate various symptoms of dyspepsia [15]. It is still unclear that the pharmacological mechanism of SA and CSA on gastrointestinal motor function and whether CSA is more effective than SA for treating gastrointestinal dysfunctions (such as functional dyspepsia) or not. In our present study, we investigated the effects of SA and CSA on gastrointestinal motility in a chronically stressed rat model and subsequently measured the serum levels of motilin and SP and determined the mRNA expressions of CCK in intestine and hypothalamus

Material and Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion