Effect of ethanol extract of psoralen-nutmeg on aquaporin and cytokines in spleen deficiency diarrhea mice

Objective: To explore the effects of ethanol extract of psoralen-nutmeg on aquaporin(AQP) and cytokines in spleen deficiency diarrhea mice.Methods: Sixty Kunming mice were randomly divided into the normal group,model group,Shenling Baizhu powder group,and low,medium and high dose of ethanol extract of psoralen-nutmeg group(10 mice each group).The spleen deficiency diarrhea mice in model group,Shenling Baizhu powder group and ethanol extract group were established using rhubarb,and the normal group was gavaged using the same volume distilled water.After successful modeling,the low,medium and high dose of ethanol extract group were gavaged with 7.02,14.04 and 21.06 g/kg of ethanol extract of psoralen-nutmeg,respectively.The Shenling Baizhu powder group was gavaged with Shenling Baizhu powder at the dose of 2.34 g/kg,and the normal group and model group were gavaged with the same volume of distilled water,once a week,for 2 weeks.The body mass,thymus index and spleen index between all groups were compared.The protein expression levels of AQP3 and AQP4 were detected by immunohistochemistry,and the levels of IL-1β、IL-2、TNF-α of colon were measured using ELISA.Results: The difference of the body mass between all groups was statistically significant(P<0.01),which in model group was significantly lower than that in normal group(P<0.01),and which in medium and high dose of ethanol extract group was higher than that in model group(P<0.05).The thymus index and spleen index in model group were significantly lower than those in normal group(P<0.05 and P<0.01),and which in middle and high dose of ethanol extract group were higher than those in model group(P<0.05).The results of immunohistochemistry showed that the protein expression levels of AQP3 and AQP4 in normal group and ethanol extract group were lower than those in normal group(P<0.05 to P<0.01),and the protein expression levels of AQP3 and AQP4 in medium and high dose of ethanol extract group and Shenling Baizhu powder group were significantly higher than those in model group and low dose of ethanol extract group(P<0.01).Compared with normal group,the levels of IL-1β,IL-2 and TNF-α in colon tissue in model group significantly increased(P<0.01).Compared with model group and low and medium dose of ethanol extract group,the levels of IL-1β,IL-2 and TNF-α in colon tissue in high dose of ethanol extract group and Shenling Baizhu powder group significantly decreased(P<0.01).Conclusions: Ethanol extract of psoralen-nutmeg can obviously enhance the expression of aquaporin,reduce the levels of intestinal inflammatory factors,and improve the gastrointestinal function of spleen deficiency diarrhea mice.