肠易激综合征诊治进展和面临的挑战

Association between cytokine imbalance and intestinal barrier injury in irritable bowel syndrome

As a common and frequently-occurring disease, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) has been paid more and more attention. In recent years, with the development of cell biology and molecular biology, the research on IBS has been shifted from functional to organic direction. Studying the association between cytokine imbalance and intestinal barrier injury in IBS is aimed to assess a more meaningful treatment for IBS in the process of searching for effective drugs, so as to provide new avenues for better treatment of the disease.

Eye acupuncture therapy up-regulates aquaporin 3 expression in the colon of rats with diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome

AIM: To explore mechanisms underlying therapeutic effects of eye acupuncture against diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (D-IBS) by investigating the expression of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) and aquaporin 3 (AQP3) in the colon of D-IBS rats.

METHODS: Thirty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into three groups: control group, D-IBS model group, and eye acupuncture group. D-IBS was induced in rats of the D-IBS model group and eye acupuncture group by chronic stress and constraint. The eye acupuncture group underwent eye acupuncture therapy for 7 d. VIP mRNA expression in the colon was detected by RT-PCR. The mRNA and protein expression of AQP3 in the colon was detected by immunohistochemistry and real-time PCR, respectively.

RESULTS: Compared to the control group, the mRNA expression level of VIP in the colon was increased significantly (0.94 ± 0.07 vs 0.64 ± 0.15, P < 0.01) and the mRNA and protein expression levels of AQP3 in the colon were remarkably decreased (1.09 ± 0.09 vs 7.02 ± 1.25; 0.284 ± 0.020 vs 0.601 ± 0.027, both P < 0.01) in the D-IBS model group. Eye acupuncture therapy remarkably decreased the mRNA expression of VIP (0.78 ± 0.15 vs 0.94 ± 0.07, P < 0.01) but significantly increased the mRNA and protein expression of AQP3 (2.33 ± 0.66 vs 1.09 ± 0.09; 0.374 ± 0.03 vs 10.284 ± 0.020, both P < 0.01) in D-IBS rats.

CONCLUSION: Oversecretion of VIP and hyposerection of AQP3 may be involved in the pathogenesis of D-IBS. Eye acupuncture therapy exerts therapeutic effects against D-IBS in rats possibly by down-regulating VIP expression and up-regulating AQP3 expression in the colon.