Mechanism of compound radix astragali extract in promoting wound healing in rats with diabetes foot ulcer
Objective To investigate the healing ability of compound astragalus extract on the wounds of diabetes foot ulcer(DFU)rats.Methods A total of 110 6-8-week old specific pathogen free(SPF)grade adult SD rats(weighing 200-250 g)were selected.Among them,36 rats were used as the control group,and the rest 74 were fed with high sugar and high fat diet and injected with low dose strepto-zotocin(STZ)to induce diabetes.A total of 72 rats with the successfully established model of DFU were randomly divided into model group and compound astragalus extract group,36 rats in each group.By drill-ing holes in the dorsal and posterior feet of rats,an ulcer wound was made.The rats in the compound Qish-en extract group received oral administration of the compound Qishen extract,and the model group and con-trol group received oral administration of physiological saline,respectively.The healing rate of ulcer wounds was observed and the enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)was used to detect serum inter-leukin-6(IL-6)and TNF-α level.Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of epidermal growth factor(EGF),vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF),basic fibroblast growth factor(bFGF),and E-cadherin in ulcer wound tissue.Results Compared with the control group,the wound healing rate in the model group was significantly reduced by(16.84±3.01)%vs.(43.36±4.42)%,t=8.49,P<0.05).Compared with the model group,the wound healing rate rats in the compound Qishen extract group was significantly increased[(28.50±2.62)%vs.(16.84±3.01)%,t=12.48,P<0.05].At the time points of 3,6 and 9 days,compared with the control group,the IL-6 levels in the model group were signifi-cantly increased(21.29±3.42 vs.15.78±3.06,t=-6.23,P<0.05;22.36±2.98 vs.15.69± 3.12,t=-4.26,P<0.05;22.58±3.06 vs.15.38±2.86,t=-5.45,P<0.05);Compared with the model group,the IL-6 level in the compound Qishen extract group was significantly reduced(17.99± 1.95 vs.21.29±3.42,t=4.23,P<0.05;17.95±1.87 vs.22.36±2.98,t=3.45,P<0.05;18.02±1.82 vs.22.58±3.06,t=4.62,P<0.05);Compared with the control group,the TNF-α level in the model group was significantly increased(17.18±2.42 vs.8.38±0.69,t=-8.44,P<0.05;18.06±3.41 vs.8.60±1.09,t=-7.29,P<0.05;17.38±2.69 vs.8.53±1.06,t=-6.52,P<0.05);Compared with the model group,the TNF-α level in the compound Qishen extract group was signif-icantly decreased(13.51±2.08 vs.17.18±2.42,t=4.25,P<0.05;14.02±2.05 vs.18.06±3.41,t=3.36,P<0.05;14.56±2.50 vs.17.38±2.69,t=5.28,P<0.05);Compared with the control group,the EGF expression level in the model group was significantly reduced(0.235±0.002 vs.0.272± 0.001,t=1.24,P<0.05;0.237±0.001 vs.0.268±0.002,t=2.40,P<0.05;0.240±0.003 vs.0.275±0.001,t=1.20,P<0.05);Compared with the model group,the EGF expression level in the compound Qishen extract group was significantly increased(0.252±0.001 vs.0.235±0.002,t=-1.26,P<0.05;0.251±0.003 vs.0.237±0.001,t=-2.24,P<0.05;0.255±0.002 vs.0.240±0.003,t=-1.40,P<0.05);Compared with the control group,the VEGF expression level in the model group was significantly reduced(0.205±0.001 vs.0.226±0.002,t=2.23,P<0.05;0.212±0.001 vs.0.239±0.002,t=1.47,P<0.05;0.217±0.001 vs.0.243±0.002,t=2.26,P<0.05);Compared with the model group,the VEGF expression level in the compound Qishen extract group was significantly increased(0.216±0.002 vs.0.205±0.001,t=-2.90,P<0.05;0.225± 0.002 vs.0.212±0.001,t=-1.43,P<0.05;0.230±0.003 vs.0.217±0.001,t=-1.63,P<0.05);Compared with the control group,the expression level of bFGF in the model group was significantly reduced(0.192±0.002 vs.0.228±0.003,t=1.25,P<0.05;0.216±0.002 vs.0.235±0.004,t=1.09,P<0.05;0.220±0.002 vs.0.245±0.001,t=2.06,P<0.05);ompared with the model group,the expression level of bFGF in the compound Qishen extract group was significantly increased(0.215±0.001 vs.0.192±0.002,t=-1.37,P<0.05;0.228±0.001 vs.0.216±0.002,t=-1.36,P<0.05;0.235±0.002 vs.0.220±0.002,t=-1.06,P<0.05);Compared with the con-trol group,the expression level of E-cadherin in the model group was significantly reduced(0.286±0.002 vs.0.325±0.001,t=1.69,P<0.05;0.293±0.003 vs.0.352±0.002,t=1.50,P<0.05;0.298± 0.001 vs.0.360±0.003,t=1.23,P<0.05);Compared with the model group,the E-cadherin level in the compound Qishen extract group was significantly increased(0.301±0.002 vs.0.286±0.002,t=-1.03,P<0.05;0.314±0.003 vs.0.293±0.003,t=-1.34,P<0.05;0.325±0.004 vs.0.298±0.001,t=-1.23,P<0.05).Conclusion Compound Qishen extract has anti-inflammatory effect,promotes vascular regeneration and wound re-epithelization,and can significantly promote wound healing of rats with DFU.