Therapeutic effect of Shenmai injection on acute pancreatitis and mechanism

Abstract

Objective To observe the therapeutic effect of Shenmai injection on rats with acute edematous pancreatitis (AEP) and its mechanism.Methods The model of AEP in rats was induced by intraperitoneal injection of caerulein every one hour for 7 times.One hour after last injection,intravenous Shenmai injection (5 ml · kg-1 · d-1) was given to rats in Shenmai injection treatment (SI) group,while same amount of normal saline was given to rats in control (AEP) group.One hour and 1,3,5,7 d after AEP induction,the blood was taken,and the method of double antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect the levels of amylase,platelet activating factor (PAF),vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF).The rats were sacrificed at 7 and 14 d,and pancreatic tissue samples were harvested.RT-PCR and Western Blot were used to determine the expression of NF-κB mRNA and protein,and normal pancreatic tissue samples were used as control.The positive expression of CD31 in pancreatic tissue was determined by immunohistochemical method to calculate microvascular density (MVD).Results The serum levels of amylase and PAF in both groups were increased and gradually decreased 3 days later,while the decrement in SI group was greater than that of AEP group.At the 5th day after AEP induction,the serum levels of amylase in SI group and AEP group were (4569 ± 158),(5056 ± 198) U/L,and the serum levels of PAF were (25.30 ± 4.76),(36.06 ± 5.57)μg/L,and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P ＜ 0.05).The serum levels of VEGF were increased 1 d after AEP induction,and the increase in SI group was greater than that of AEP group 3 d later,and the serum levels of VEGF were (139.78 ±24.30),(118.51 ±21.70)pg/ml at 5th day,and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P ＜ 0.05).The expression levels of NF-κB mRNA and protein of pancreatic tissue in SI group were O.834 ±0.031 and 0.49±0.24,and MVD was 6.41 ± 1.14,while the corresponding values in AEP group were 1.000 ± 0.059,0.93 ± 0.45,3.62 ± 0.89,and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P ＜ 0.05 or P ＜ 0.01).Conclusions In the course of acute pancreatitis,Shenmai injection has the therapeutic effects of promoting new angiogenesis,improving the microcirculation,reducing the inflammatory cascade. Key words: Pancreatitis; Shenmai injection; Microcirculation ; Platelet activating factor; Vascular endothelial growth factors