Radix Panacis quinquefolii Extract Ameliorates Inflammatory Bowel Disease through Inhibiting Inflammation

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the anti-inflammatory activity of Radix Panacis quinguefolii root extract (RPQE) and its therapeutic effects on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Methods: The 72-hour post-fertilization zebrafish was used to generate the local and systematic inflammation models through tail-amputation and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induction (100 µ g/mL), respectively. The Tg(zlyz:EGFP) zebrafish was induced with 75 µ g/mL 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS) for establishing the IBD model. The tail-amputated, LPS-, and TNBS-induced models were subjected to RPQE (ethanol fraction, 10-20 µ g/mL) administration for 12 and 24 h, respectively. Anti-inflammatory activity of RPQE was evaluated by detecting migration and aggregation of leukocytes and expression of inflammation-related genes. Meanwhile, TNBS-induced fish were immersed in 0.2% (W/V) calcein for 1.5 h and RPQE for 12 h before photographing to analyze the intestinal efflux efficiency (IEE). Moreover, the expression of inflammation-related genes in these fish was detected by quantitative polymerase chain reaction.

Results: Subject to RPQE administration, the migration and aggregation of leukocytes were significantly alleviated in 3 zebrafish models (P<0.01). Herein, RPQE ameliorated TNBS-induced IBD with respect to a significantly reduced number of leukocytes, improved IEE, and inhibited gene expression of pro-inflammatory factors (P<0.05 or P<0.01).

Conclusion: RPQE exhibited therapeutic effects on IBD by inhibiting inflammation.

Keywords: Radix Panacis quinguefolii root extract; anti-inflammatory; inflammatory bowel disease; zebrafish.