The novel preventive effect of Daikenchuto (TJ-100), a Japanese herbal drug, against neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis in rats.

Abstract

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a devastating gastrointestinal disease of premature infants. Daikenchuto, a Japanese herbal drug, has several effects on the digestive system, so we investigated its preventive effects in a rat model of NEC. NEC was induced in newborn rats via asphyxia (100% N2 for 90s; every 4h)+LPS (4mg/kg/day [administered orally on days 0 and 1]). The effects of Daikenchuto were evaluated in four groups (control: 0g/kg/day, I: 0.3g/kg/day, II: 0.6g/kg/day, and III: 1.0g/kg/day). Daikenchuto was administered into the stomach through a microcatheter. The incidence and severity of NEC were pathologically assessed using the NEC grade in accordance with Dovorak's previous report. Cell positivity for inflammatory cytokine (IL-6) was also evaluated. Daikenchuto reduced the incidence of NEC in control, Groups I, II, and III to 68.7, 30.0, 30.7, and 13.3%, respectively. High-dose Daikenchuto significantly improved the incidence of NEC, and the rate of IL-6 positive cells in group III was significantly lower than in the control group (p=0.04). We evaluated the effect of Daikenchuto against NEC and found that it reduced the incidence rate of NEC due to a decrease in the IL-6 production.