Effect of Matrine on Intestinal Mucosal Injury in Rats with Inflammatory Bowel Disease by Regulating IL-6/STAT3 Signaling Pathway
Objective To observe the effect of matrine on intestinal mucosal injury in rats with inflammatory bowel disease(IBD)by regulating interleukin 6(IL-6)/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3(STAT3)signaling pathway.Methods IBD model rats were constructed by colon perfusion of trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid(TNBS)method,and randomly divided into model group,matrine low-and high-dose groups,and matrine high-dose+ colivelin(STAT3 activator)group,with 10 rats in each group.Another 10 rats were selected for colon perfusion with equal volume of normal saline as the normal group.After treatment with matrine and colivelin,the body mass and disease activity index(DAI)of rats in each group were detected.The histopathological changes of colonic mucosa in rats were detected by hematoxylin-eosin(HE)staining.The ultrastructural changes of colonic mucosa in rats were observed by transmission electron microscopy.The levels of interleukin-6(IL-6),C-reactive protein(CRP),and superoxide dismutase(SOD),malondialdehyde(MDA)in serum and colonic mucosa of rats in each group were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)and colorimetry,respectively.The expression of IL-6/STAT3 pathway-related proteins in rat colonic mucosa was detected by Western Blot.Results Compared with the normal group,the colonic mucosal tissue of rats in the model group had severe pathological damage and obvious ultrastructural damage,DAI,colonic mucosal histopathological score,serum and colonic mucosal tissue CRP,IL-6,MDA levels,and IL-6 protein expression and p-STAT3/STAT3 levels in colonic mucosal tissue were significantly increased(P<0.05),and body mass,serum and colonic mucosal tissue SOD level were significantly decreased(P<0.05).Compared with the model group,the pathological damage and ultrastructural damage of colonic mucosa in the low-and high-dose of matrine groups were alleviated,DAI,pathological score of colonic mucosa,CRP,IL-6,MDA levels in serum and colonic mucosa,IL-6 protein expression and p-STAT3/STAT3 ratio in colonic mucosa were decreased(P<0.05),and body mass,SOD level in serum and colonic mucosa were increased(P<0.05),in a dose-dependent manner.Compared with the matrine high-dose group,the pathological damage and ultrastructural damage of colonic mucosa in the matrine high-dose + colivelin group were aggravated,DAI,colonic mucosa histopathological score,serum and colonic mucosa CRP,IL-6,MDA levels,colonic mucosa IL-6 protein expression and p-STAT3/STAT3 ratio were increased(P<0.05),body mass,serum and colonic mucosa SOD level were decreased(P<0.05).Conclusion Matrine can reduce the level of inflammation and oxidative stress by preventing the activation of IL-6/STAT3 signal pathway,thereby reducing intestinal mucosal injury in IBD rats.