| Objective To study expressions of β-endorphin (β-EP) and adrenocorticotropichormone (ACTH) in pituitary of adjuvant arthritis (AA) rats, and discuss the immuneregulation mechanism by Shexiang Wulong Pill in treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA),and then to provide experimental evidence for its clinical application.Methods After their adoptively raising for7days,12of60male Wistar rats wereselected as the normal group. The other48ones were for AA model rats established byinjection of FCA to the right foot after ether anesthesia, and randomly divided into5groups based on their AI with12rats in each group: the model group, Shexiang WulongPill groups of low, medium, and high dose. Rats in Shexiang Wulong Pill groups wereadministrated by ig with Shexiang Wulong Pill in dose of0.3,0.6,1.2g·kg-1(salinesuspension, equivalent to3,6,12times of adult doses respectively) for2weeks. Toobserve the pathomorphology of pituitary, HE staining was employed and the expressionsof β-EP and ACTH were detected by immunohistochemistry technology.Results1The influence on the general condition of rat: rats in normal group hadnormal diet, light fur, and good mental state. The rest rats after the injection of FCA hadthe following symptoms like foot swelling in left hind and front feet, decreased activity,less diet and water intake, the thinning and lacklustre hair, difficult walking. During thetreatment, compared with model group, the rats in Shexiang Wulong Pill groups hadbetter general condition, with active response, increased activity, reduced swelling in theankle and sole gradually, and luster skin.2The influence on the AI of rat: compared withnormal group, AI of the model rats were significantly increased (P<0.05). Compared withmodel group, AI of the rats in Shexiang Wulong Pill groups of low, medium and highdoses were significantly decreased (P<0.05), especially in Shexiang Wulong Pill group ofhigh dose.3The effect on the pathomorphology of pituitary morphology: under themicroscope to observe the pituitary, there was no significant difference regarding thepathomorphology of pituitary between all the groups above.4The effect on theexpression of ACTH in pituiary: expression of ACTH in pituiyary was investigated byimmunohistochemistry. The positive expression rate of ACTH in the normal group,model group, Shexiang Wulong Pill groups of low, medium, and high dose were 40.23±3.43,56.82±3.97,53.14±4.16,50.14±3.39and46.87±3.31respectively. Comparedwith the normal group, the positive expressions of ACTH were increased in rates of othergroups (P<0.01). No difference was found in the expression of ACTH between modelgroup and Shexiang Wulong Pill group of low dose (P>0.05). The levels of ACTHexpression were higher in Shexiang Wulong Pill groups of medium and high dose thanthat in model group (P<0.05or P<0.01), in which Shexiang Wulong Pill group of highdose was most obvious.5The effect on the expression of β-EP in pituiary: Expression ofβ-EP in pituiyary was investigated by immunohistochemistry. The positive expressionrate of β-EP in the normal group, model group, Shexiang Wulong Pill groups of low,medium, and high dose were30.84±2.19,39.72±2.66,43.55±3.59,46.69±3.62and49.47±3.17respectively. Compared with the normal group, the positive expression of β-EP was increased in other groups (P<0.01). The levels of β-EP expression was higher inall Shexiang Wulong Pill groups than that in model group (P<0.01), in which ShexiangWulong Pill group of high dose was most obvious. |
