Pentoxifylline suppresses the expression of tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-1β in ulcerative colitis in rats

Abstract

AIM: To investigate the effects of pentoxifylline (PTX) on the expression of tumor necrosis factoralpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) in trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS) -induced ulcerative colitis (UC) in rats. METHODS: UC was induced in rats with TNBS and ethanol. The rats were randomly divided into three groups: normal group (C), TNBS group (T), and PTX group (D). Three days after UC was induced, the rats in the PTX group received a PTX injection every 12 hours for five consecutive days, while the remaining two groups received an injection of distilled water. The disease activity index (DAI) was evaluated daily. The expression of TNF-α and IL-1β mRNAs was measured by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). RESULTS: Compared with the normal group and the PTX group, the expression of TNF-α and IL-1β mRNAs and DAI in the TNBS group were markedly higher (6.85 ± 2.78 vs 0.45 ± 0.11 and 1.85 ± 2.01; 1.02 ± 0.16 vs 0.61 ± 0.08 and 0.74 ± 0.16;and 0.95 ± 0.17 vs 0.57 ± 0.07 and 0.64 ± 0.13, respectively; all P＜0.05). No significant differences were noted in the expression levels of TNF-α and IL-1β mRNAs and DAI between the normal group and the PTX group (all P ＞ 0.05). CONCLUSION: The expression of proinflammatory factors TNF-α and IL-1β mRNAs increases in rat ulcerative colitis. PTX exerts protective effects against UC possibly by downregulating the expression of TNF-α and IL-1β mRNAs.