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Protective effects of Weilikang decoction on gastric ulcers and possible mechanisms

  • Original Paper
  • Biologically Active Natural Products from Microorganisms and Plants
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Abstract

Although Weilikang decoction (WLK) has been used for gastric ulcer (GU) therapy in a clinical setting with good curative effect for >20 years, the mechanism remains unclear. Several GU animal models, induced by ethanol, hydrochloric acid, aspirin, pylorus ligation, acetic acid and indomethacin, were used to investigate the gastroprotective effects of WLK decoction. Nω-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester hydrochloride (l-NAME), indomethacin, and N-ethylmaleimide (NEM) were pretreated, respectively, to investigate the action mechanism. Real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analysis methods were used to determine the effects of WLK on indomethacin-induced GUs. The WLK-administered groups (2.5, 1.25 and 0.625 g/kg) significantly reduced the GU areas induced by ethanol, hydrochloric acid and aspirin. Furthermore, the effects could be quenched by l-NAME and NEM, but not by indomethacin. The 2.5 and 1.25 g/kg WLK groups showed significantly decreased effects on GU areas induced by pylorus ligation and acetic acid. WLK treatment significantly decreased mRNA expression on cyclooxygenase (COX)-1, COX-2, interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor α and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) mRNA, but showed no effect on endothelial nitric oxide synthase mRNA expression. Western blot analysis result showed that WLK-treated groups markedly downregulated COX-2 protein expression. The anti-ulcer potential of WLK can be primarily attributed to its regulatory effects on nitric oxide, sulfhydryl compounds, and reduction effect on mucosal expression of proinflammatory cytokines.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Program for Important Drug Development of MOST, China (2013ZX09402201001), New Century Excellent Talents in University (NCET-12-1069), and Tianjin Innovative Research Team in University (TD12-5033).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tianjin State Key Laboratory of Modern Chinese Medicine, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 312 Anshanxi Road, Nankai District, Tianjin, 300193, China

    Shiyu Wang, Yajuan Ni, Jinchang Liu, Erwei Liu, Xingrui Wang, Yi Zhang & Tao Wang

  2. Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 312 Anshanxi Road, Nankai District, Tianjin, 300193, China

    Haiyang Yu & Jun He

  3. Sichuan Luye Baoguang Pharmaceutical Industry Co. Ltd., 88 Babao Street, Chengdu, 610031, China

    Bo Guo

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  1. Shiyu Wang
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Correspondence to Yi Zhang or Tao Wang.

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Wang, S., Ni, Y., Liu, J. et al. Protective effects of Weilikang decoction on gastric ulcers and possible mechanisms. J Nat Med 70, 391–403 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11418-016-0985-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11418-016-0985-1

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