Huangqi Injection reduces NF-κB activity and down-regulates TNF-α mRNA expression in rats with acute pancreatitis

AIM: To investigate the effects of Huangqi Injection on nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) activity and NF-κB and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) mRNA expression in rats with acute pancreatitis. METHODS: Sixty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into five groups: sham-operation group, model control group, and low-[0.10 mL/(100 g•d)], medium- [0.15 mL/(100 g•d)] and high-dose [0.20 mL/(100 g•d)] Huangqi Injection groups. Acute pancreatitis was induced by injection of 5% sodium taurocholate [0.10 mL/(100 g•d)] into the pancreatic duct of rats. Huangqi Injection was injected into the tail vein 30 min before sodium taurocholate injection in the three treatment groups. The rats were killed 6 h after sodium taurocholate injection. The histomorphologic structure of the pancreas was observed under an optical microscope, and the severity of pancreatitis was evaluated using a pathologic grading system. The NF-κB activity in pancreatic acinar cells was determined by immunohistochemistry. The expression of NF-κB and TNF-α mRNAs in the pancreas was measured by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). RESULTS: Compared with the sham-operation group, the pathologic grading score, NF-κB activity and TNF-κ mRNA expression level increased obviously in the model group (both P < 0.01). The pathologic grading score, NF-κB activity and TNF-α mRNA expression level were significantly lower in the treatment groups than in the model group (all P < 0.05 or 0.01). A positive correlation was noted between NF-κB activity and TNF-α mRNA expression level (r = 0.542, P < 0.05). No significant difference was noted in NF-κB mRNA expression level among each group (all P > 0.01). CONCLUSION: NF-κB activity and TNF-α mRNA expression are closely related with the severity of acute pancreatitis. Active NF-κB may play an important role in the pathogenesis of acute pancreatitis by up-regulating TNF-α mRNA expression. Huangqi Injection can significantly decrease NF-kB activity and TNF-α mRNA expression and therefore alleviate pancreatic injury in rats with acute pancreatitis.