The Effect of Oren-gedoku-to on Experimental Colitis in Rats

Abstract

In Japan and China, Oren-gedoku-to (a complex mixture of ingredients derived from plants) has been used as a herbal medicine in the treatment of inflammatory and ulcerative diseases. In other countries salicylazosulfapyridine has been used to treat inflammatory bowel disease. In this study, we have compared the effect of Oren-gedoku-to with salicylazosulfapyridine on trinitrobenzene-sulphonic acid-induced colonic damage in rats, a model representative of ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease in man. Oren-gedoku-to was administered orally for one or two weeks over a range of doses. Tissue damage scores, body weight, spleen weight, colon wet weight and colon wall thickness were measured, and colonic tissue levels of interleukin-8 (IL-8), leukotriene B4 (LTB4), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), and myeloperoxidase activity were examined. The results indicated that Oren-gedoku-to was effective in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease in the rat model. Histological observation showed a quicker healing process of the lesions, and a reduction of inflammatory cell infiltration following administration of Oren-gedoku-to. The precise mechanism of action for Oren-gedoku-to is still unclear; however, the reduction of IL-8, LTB4, and PGE2 observed suggests that the mechanism may be different from salicylazosulfapyridine (which has no effect on IL-8). There may be a potential benefit in offering combination therapy for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease.

The Herbal Medicine Daikenchuto Increases Blood Flow in the Superior Mesenteric Artery

“…Thus, "heat removal" with an herbal medicine may not be directly related to blood flow changes. It has been reported that Orengedokuto reduces the levels of prostaglandin E2, interleukin-8, and leukotriene B4 in inflammatory bowel disease (Zhou and Mineshita 1999;Miura et al 2007). Thus, "heat removal" with Orengedokuto in traditional medicine may be related to a reduction in the levels of such inflammatory cytokines.…”

An Herbal Medicine Orengedokuto Prevents Indomethacin-Induced Enteropathy

“…Furthermore, suppression of PGE2 production by OGT has also been reported in the TNBS-induced colitis model. 19) These findings had initially led to the assumption that OGT may have NSAID-like properties. However, in the present study we found that OGT pretreatment does not exacerbate NSAID-induced enteropathy but effectively inhibits NSAIDinduced severe intestinal injury (Figs.…”

“…OGT decreases intestinal injury in dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-and trinitrobenzene sulphonic acid (TNBS)-induced animal models of enteropathy. [17][18][19] In the present study, we describe the effect of OGT on lethality, intestinal injury, and PGE2 depletion induced by subcutaneous indomethacin injection, and we discuss OGT's possible therapeutic value for the treatment of IBD and adverse reactions to NSAIDs.…”

In vivo and in vitro inhibitory effects of a traditional Chinese formulation on LPS-stimulated leukocyte–endothelial cell adhesion and VCAM-1 gene expression

“…The therapeutic effects of HLJDT have been studied in a variety of rat disease mod- els such as the ischaemia/reperfusion-induced brain injury (Hwang et al, 2002), stress-induced gastric mucosal lesions (Ohta et al, 1999a,b), trinitrobenzene-sulphuric acid-induced colonic damage (Zhou and Mineshita, 1999) and carbon tetrachloride-induced liver injury (Ohta et al, 1997). All these studies have demonstrated the common beneficial effect of HLJDT on reducing leukocyte infiltration and associated tissue injury.…”

“…In vivo animal or in vitro studies on the anti-inflammatory effects of HLJDT have been carried out in a great variety of acute and chronic inflammatory diseases, either pathogenic microbesrelated or not. Based upon research results from Medline databases, these could be divided into four categories as (1) infection diseases: gastroenteritis, in vitro antimicrobial activity (Franzblau and Cross, 1986), intestinal parasite infection (Yang et al, 1996), acne (Higaki et al, 1996), gastric ulcer (Takase et al, 1989;Ohta et al, 1999a,b); (2) autoimmune or allergic diseases: inflammatory bowel diseases (Zhou and Mineshita, 1999), atopic dermatitis (Nose et al, 1999); (3) chemicals or trauma-induced diseases: hepatoxininduced hepatitis (Lin et al, 1996;Ohta et al, 1997Ohta et al, , 1998Ohta et al, , 2004, post-traumatic inflammatory aqueous flare elevation after smallincision cataract surgery (Ikeda et al, 2001;Nagaki et al, 2001), mucositis caused by anticancer drugs (Yuki et al, 2003) and (4) others: ischaemia/reperfusion injury-associated inflammatory process (Kabuto et al, 1997;Kondo et al, 2000;Xu et al, 2000;Hwang et al, 2002), and atherosclerosis. These studies experimentally demonstrated HLJDT as an effective anti-inflammatory agent.…”