Protective Effect Of Sea Cucumber On Indomethacin - Induced Gastric Mucosal Injury In Rats And Its Mechanism

AIM: Our study aimed to investigate the protective effects and mechanism of Holothurian intestines(HI) on NSAIDs-induced gastric mucosal damageMETHODS: 60 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 6 groups: the blank control group, the model group, the sucralfate group and the HI groups(low-dose 、medium-dose 、 high-dose), 10 rats in each group. The rats were pretreated for 15 consecutive days with saline, sucralfate, or HI prior to IDM treatment. 6 hours later of IDM-indeced gastric mucosal injury, we observed the gastric macroscopic damage,microscopic features and measured the ulcer index. The interleukin-1β(IL-1β), IL-17,tumer neurosis factor-β(TNF-β), TGF-β and prostaglandin E2(PGE2) in serum were studied. Then total superoxide dismutase(T-SOD), glutathione(GSH), malondialdehyde(MDA), nitric oxide(NO), PGE2 and total hexosamine in tissue were measured. The expression of cyclooxygenase(COX) m RNA in the gastric tissue were determined by quantitative polymerase chain reaction(q PCR)RESULTS: The gastric tissues were damaged serious in model group compared with blank group, gastric ulcer indexes, levels of serum pro-inflammatory cytokines(IL-1β,IL-17, TNF-α) and tissue MDA were significantly increased(P<0.05). The gastric damage in sucralfate group and HI-treated groups were better, and the above-mentioned indicators were lower than that of rats in the model group(P<0.05). Compared with the blank group, the levels of protective factors(TGF-β, SOD activity, GSH, NO, PGE2 and total hexosamine) in gastric tissue in the model group were decreased obviously(P<0.05),the obove indicators of rats in sucralfate group and HI-treated groups were all significantly elevated(P<0.05, 0.01). The expression of COX-2 m RNA in gastric tissue was increased significantly in model group(P<0.05), and decreased significantly in HI groups(P<0.05), however, the sucralfate had no obvious influence on it(P>0.05);Compared with the blank group, COX-1 m RNA expression were decreased statistically in other groups(P<0.05).CONCLUSION: The study investigates that HI has protective effect on IDM-induced gastric ulcer, and the effect in high-dose group is similar with that of sucralfate. The mechanism may be associated with its antiinflammation, antioxidation and increase of mucosal protective factors.