Abstract:

Objective     To investigate therapeutic effects and mechanism of emodin on rats with acute radiation enteritis. Methods     53 healthy male SD rats were randomly divided into four groups: the normal group, the model group, the emodin group and the Baitouwengtang (BTWT) group. Except for the normal group, all groups were given a single dose of 10Gy 6MV higher-energy x-rays on the abdominal region to establish acute radiation enteritis models. After radiation, all the rats were intragastricly administered daily. After 7 days of intragastric administration, 10mL ileum in the ileocecal junction was collected as samples under the condition of general anesthesia. Morphological indices were measured by using a light microscope and image analysis system. Intestinal nitric oxide (NO) levels, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were measured by a spectrophotometer. Results    The emodin group had more significantly increased height of villus, depth of crypt, and thickness of mucosa and entire wall than the model group did(P＜0.05), while there were no differences between the emodin group and the BTWT group(P＞0.05). The emodin group had clearly decreased NO and MDA levels and clearly increased SOD activities in the intestine compared with the model group(P＜0.05). The emodin group had clearly decreased NO levels compared with the BTWT group, while there was no difference in MDA levels and SOD activities between the emodin group and the BTWT group. Conclusion      Emodin can relieve intestinal mucosa damage in acute radiation enteritis model rats, reduce NO and MDA generation in the intestinal tissue, and improve SOD activity in the intestinal tissue.

Key words: Acute radiation enteritis; Emodin; Nitric oxide; Oxygen free radicals