Abstract
Background Maren pills have been used to treat constipation. Aquaporin 3 (AQP3) plays a vital role in regulating water transfer in the colon. It has been reported that the downregulation of AQP3 can regulate liquid water metabolism and intestinal permeability in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) rats' colon via NF-κB pathway. In this study, we investigated whether the laxative effect of Maren pills is associated with the regulation of AQP3 and NF-κB signaling pathway in the colon. Methods The compound diphenoxylate suspension-induced STC rats received Maren pills intragastrically for 1 consecutive week to evaluate the laxative effect of Maren pills involving the regulation of AQP3 and NF-κB signaling pathway. Moreover, human intestinal epithelial cells (HT-29) were treated with drug serum to obtain in vitro data. Results Our results revealed that treatment with Maren pills increased the stool number, moisture content of feces, and intestinal transit rate in a dose-dependent manner. Maren pills significantly increased the AQP3, fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), and protein kinase A (PKA) proteins in the colon of rats and in HT-29 cells. Mechanistically, Maren pills obviously inhibited the activation of NF-κB pathway in the colon of rats and in HT-29 cells. Conclusion These results suggest that the laxative effect of Maren pills is associated with the increased expression of AQP3 by downregulating NF-κB signal pathway.
Highlights
Slow transit constipation (STC) is a common type of functional constipation, characterized by difficulty, infrequent, or incomplete defecation [1]
To elucidate the mechanism of the laxative effect of Maren pills, we here discovered and demonstrated the effect of Maren pills on Aquaporin 3 (AQP3) and NF-κB pathway both in vivo and in vitro. e main findings of our study are as follows: (1) Maren pills have the laxative effect via increasing intestinal fluid accumulation and intestinal motility, (2) Maren pills reduce inflammatory cell infiltration and increase muscle thickness, (3) Maren pills upregulate the AQP3 protein expression in the colon of rats and HT-29 cells, and (4) Maren pills inhibit the activation of NF-κB signaling pathway in the colon of rats and HT-29 cells
We found that Maren pills can upregulate the expression of protein kinase A (PKA) and CFTR proteins, which is consistent with the upregulated trend of AQP3, and jointly plays a regulatory role in constipation
Summary
Slow transit constipation (STC) is a common type of functional constipation, characterized by difficulty, infrequent, or incomplete defecation [1]. We investigated whether the laxative effect of Maren pills is associated with the regulation of AQP3 and NF-κB signaling pathway in the colon. E compound diphenoxylate suspension-induced STC rats received Maren pills intragastrically for 1 consecutive week to evaluate the laxative effect of Maren pills involving the regulation of AQP3 and NF-κB signaling pathway. Our results revealed that treatment with Maren pills increased the stool number, moisture content of feces, and intestinal transit rate in a dose-dependent manner. Maren pills significantly increased the AQP3, fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), and protein kinase A (PKA) proteins in the colon of rats and in HT-29 cells. Ese results suggest that the laxative effect of Maren pills is associated with the increased expression of AQP3 by downregulating NF-κB signal pathway Conclusion. ese results suggest that the laxative effect of Maren pills is associated with the increased expression of AQP3 by downregulating NF-κB signal pathway
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