The Effect Of Shenqi Pills On Function Recession In The Duodenum Of Aging Rats And Its Possible Mechanism

Objective To explore the effect of Shenqi pills on function recession in the duodenum of aging rats and its possible mechanism.Methods(1)45 male SD rats aged 18 months old were randomly divided into 3groups(aging model group,low-dose Shenqi pills group and high-dose Shenqi pills group),15 rats each group.Shenqi pills groups were given Shenqi pills at different doses(0.4 and1.6 g/kg)consecutively for 4 months,and aging model group was treated with equal volume of saline for 4 months until 22 months old.Another 15 rats aged 6 months were used as young control group.(2)To observe the effects of Shenqi pills on mucosal digestion and absorption enzymes such as IAP,Lct,Pep T1 in the duodenum of aging rats.(3)To observe the effects of Shenqi pills on the markers of duodenal stem cells and the ability of stem cells differentiation into absorption cells in aging rats.(4)To observe the effects of Shenqi pills on Notch signal pathway in the duodenum of aging rats.Results(1)The result of IAP staining showed that the intestinal alkaline phosphatase activity was decreased in aging group,however there was no significant difference in low-dose Shenqi pills group,but significant increased in high-dose Shenqi pills group.The results of RT-PCR showed that the IAP,Lct,Pep T1 m RNA were decreased during aging,while increased in Shenqi pills groups.These results suggested that Shenqi pills could improve the expressions of digestion and absorption enzymes in the duodenum of aging rats.(2)The function of digestion and absorption was related to the ability of stem cells differentiated into absorption cells in the intestinal,so we examined the number of small intestinal stem cells and the ability of stem cells differentiated into absorption cells in the duodenum of aging rats.Immunohistochemical showed that the expression of intestinal stem cell marker Bmi1 was less during aging,while increased in Shenqi pills rats.Consistent with the immunohistochemical result,RT-PCR also showed that intestinal stem cell markers Bmi1,Olfm4,Lgr5 m RNA were decreased in aging rats,but increased in Shenqi pills rats.These results suggested that Shenqi pills could promote the expressions of intestinal stem cells in aging rats.The capacities of intestinal stem cells differentiated into epithelial cells and goblet cells was further examined.RT-PCR showed that intestinal epithelial differentiation markers Ck8,Villin m RNA were decreased in aging rats,but increased in Shenqi pills rats.PAS staining showed that the number of epithelium goblet cells was increased in aging group,while significantly decreased in Shenqi pills groups.These results suggested that Shenqi pills could promote stem cells differentiation into absorption cells.(3)It had been shown that upregulated the expressions of Notch signal could increase the number of absorption cells,then improved the function of digestion and absorption in the intestinal.Therefore,we examined the related indexes of Notch signal pathway.Immunohistochemical showed that the expressions of Notch1,Hes1 were decreased in aging group,but increased in Shenqi pills groups.RT-PCR showed that Jagged1,Rbpj m RNA were decreased,Atoh1 m RNA was increased with age,while they were reversed in Shenqi pills groups.These results suggested that the inhibition of Notch signaling pathway in the duodenum of aging rats led to the reduction of stem cells differentiation into absorption cells,then declined the function of digestion and absorption in the duodenum of aging rats.Shenqi pills could upregulate the Notch signaling pathway,promote stem cells differentiation into absorption cells,enhance the function of digestion and absorption in the duodenum of aging rats.Conclusion Shenqi pills can upregulate Notch signal pathway,promote stem cells differentiation into absorption cells,improve the ability of epithelial differentiation,improve the expressions of mucosal digestion and absorption enzymes,thereby enhance digestive and absorptive functions in the duodenum of aging rats.