title: Study of the gastrointestinal protective effects of polysaccharides from Angelica sinensis in rats.
abstract: We studied the protective effects of polysaccharides isolated from the root of Angelica sinensis (Oliv.) (Danggui) on gastrointestinal damage induced by ethanol or indomethacin in rats. Oral administration of ethanol provoked a marked hemorrhagic damage in the glandular mucosa, which was accompanied with a significant increase of myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity, a marker enzyme for inflammation and neutrophil infiltration. An extract from Angelica, which mainly consisted of polysaccharides (95%) (AP), dose-dependently prevented gastric mucosal damage. This ulcer protective effect could last at least 12 h after administration. Prostaglandin E2 produced a similar anti-lesion effect. AP and prostaglandin E2 also reduced mucosal MPO activity. Indomethacin-induced gastrointestinal damage, another neutrophil-dependent lesion model in the gastrointestinal tract, was also prevented by AP pretreatment. The present findings suggest that polysaccharides from Angelica possess an anti-inflammatory action, perhaps through the inhibitory action on neutrophil infiltration in the gastrointestinal mucosa. AP could potentially be useful to prevent any neutrophil-dependent mucosal injury in the gastrointestinal tract.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, China. chcho@hkusua.hku.hk
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Q B
authors.initials: QB
authors.lastname: Mei
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Shang
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: H L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: So
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005765:Gastrointestinal Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000737:chemistry*; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D005765:Gastrointestinal Agents; D011134:Polysaccharides