Medicinal & Aromatic Plants
Open Access
ISSN: 2167-0412
ISSN: 2167-0412
Su Ji Kim, Mi-Rae Shin, Kyeong Jo Kim, Soo Hyun Kim, Bu-Il Seo and Seong-Soo Roh
Daegu Haany University, Republic of Korea
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: Med Aromat Plants
Sulfasalazine commonly used in Ulcerative Colitis (UC), potentially has various adverse effects after high dosage and long term intake. The present study aimed to investigate the comparative evaluation of pharmacological efficacy between Sulfasalazine alone and combination with herbal medicine on Dextran Sodium Sulfate (DSS)-induced UC in mice. To induce UC, Balb/c mice were treated 5% DSS water solution for 7 days. Animals were divided into five groups (n=9); Group-1: Normal group; Group-2: DSS control group; Group-3: DSS+sulfasalazine (30 mg/kg); Group-4: DSS+sulfasalazine (60 mg/kg); Group-5: DSS+sulfasalazine (30 mg/kg)+Scutellariae radix and Bupleuri radix mixture (30 mg/kg) (SSB). The anti-oxidant, inflammatory and apoptotic protein levels were determined using western blotting. DSS-treated mice developed symptoms similar to those of human UC, such as severe bloody diarrhea and weight loss. SSB supplementation, as well as sulfasalazine suppressed colonic length shortening and mucosal inflammatory injury. In addition, significantly reduced the expression of pro-inflammatory signaling molecules through suppression of both Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases (MAPK) and Nuclear Factor-kappa B (NF-�?ºB) signaling pathways and prevented the apoptosis of colon, moreover, SSB significantly up-regulated antioxidant enzymes including SOD and catalase. This is the first report that Scutellariae radix and Bupleuri radix mixture combined with sulfasalazine protects against experimental UC via the inhibition of both inflammation and apoptosis, very similar to the standard-of-care sulfasalazine. We conclude that SSB can provide better treatments for UC than sulfasalazine alone or may be useful as an alternative treatment strategy for UC, without evidence of side effects.
Su Ji Kim has lectured and studied Pharmacology and Toxicity in Korean Medicine at Daegu Haany University, Republic of Korea. In addition to natural drug research, he is also focusing on research on functional food ingredients and natural cosmetic materials. Presently he is the Editor-in-Chief of The Korea Association of Herbology and serves as an Academic Member and Editor of internationally renowned journals.