Integrated traditional Chinese medicine improves acute pancreatitis via the downregulation of PRSS1 and SPINK1.

Qiang Gao,Nusheng Liang

doi:10.3892/etm.2015.2191

Abstract

Integrated traditional Chinese medicine (ITCM) is known to improve health in patients with acute pancreatitis (AP); however, the molecular mechanisms underlying this effect are unknown. AP is associated with the expression of PRSS1 and SPINK1. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate whether ITCM was able to ameliorate AP by regulating the expression levels of protein, serine 1 (PRSS1) and serine peptidase inhibitor, Kazal type 1 (SPINK1). A total of 100 AP patients were divided at random into two groups. The treatment group were treated externally with a herbal ITCM preparation, while the control group received a routine placebo treatment. The mRNA and protein expression levels of PRSS1 and SPINK1 were subsequently compared between the two groups. The results revealed that the health of the patients who had received ITCM improved significantly when compared with the control group patients (P<0.05). In addition, the expression levels of PRSS1 and SPINK1 were found to be lower in the treatment group when compared with the control group (P<0.05). Therefore, ITCM exhibited a significant therapeutic effect on AP and produced no side effects since the treatment was applied externally. ITCM may ameliorate AP by downregulating the expression of PRSS1 and SPINK1; thus, should be considered as a potential therapy for the development of drugs against AP.

Highlights

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a common disease of the digestive system, characterized by acute, severe symptoms, a variety of complications and a high rate of mortality [1,2]
The results suggested that Integrated traditional Chinese medicine (ITCM) was able to ameliorate AP; ITCM should be considered as a potential drug candidate for the treatment of AP
Significant progress has been reported in the treatment of AP by ITCM [21,52,53]; there remain a number of difficulties that hinder the improvement of therapeutic efficacy

Summary

Introduction

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a common disease of the digestive system, characterized by acute, severe symptoms, a variety of complications and a high rate of mortality [1,2]. AP aggravates the inflammatory reaction, interferes with the nerve function of the gastrointestinal tract, compromises blood circulation in the intestines and damages the intestinal mucosa. This damage may result in an intestinal motility disorder, flatulence, bowel dilatation and abdominal pressure, which may in turn affect the gastrointestinal blood supply and increase microcirculation [11,12]. The large volume of liquid exudation, damage to the intestinal mucosal barrier, bacterial translocation and the absorption of toxins may aggravate shock and systemic infection, resulting in mortality [13,14]. There is a close association between AP and infective pancreatic necrosis [15,16]

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