title: Evaluation of ligustrazine on the prevention of experimentally induced abdominal adhesions in rats.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the effects of ligustrazine on the prevention of postoperative intra-abdominal adhesions in rats.
  
  
  METHODS
  Abdominal adhesions were induced by scraping the cecum of rats. Various dosages of ligustrazine were administered for 10 days after surgery. Grades of abdominal adhesions were ranked by macroscopic observation on the 11th day after surgery. Meanwhile, the levels of IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-a in blood serum and TGF-β1, CTGF in peritoneal fluid were determined by ELISA assay. In the cell experiment, the secretion of FN and CTGF undergoing stimulation with TGF β1 in the culture fluid of rat peritoneal mesothelial cells (RPMC) were measured by ELISA assay. And the expression of Smad7 and p-smad 2/3 in RPMC were evaluated by western blot analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ligustrazine remarkably alleviated the adhesions at the dose of 30 mg/kg and 60 mg/kg compared with the non-treated surgery group (p < 0.05). Ligustrazine decreased the levels of IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α in blood serum and the expression of TGF-β1, CTGF in the peritoneal fluid in dose-dependent manner. In the cell experiment, ligustrazine markedly attenuated TGF-β1 induced upregulation of FN and CTGF in RPMC. Meanwhile, ligustrazine significantly inhibited the expression of pSmad 2/3 and increased the level of Smad7 in the RPMC.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Ligustrazine is a potent postoperative adhesion preventer by inhibiting inflammation and regulating the TGF/Smad signaling pathway.
authors.affiliation: College of Pharmacy, Xinxiang Medical University, Xingxiang, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: College of Pharmacy, Xinxiang Medical University, Xingxiang, China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Department of Cerebral Surgery of The Third People's Hospital of Anyang City, Anyang, China.
authors.forename: Zhiyong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Sanquan Medical College, Xinxiang Medical University, Xingxiang, China.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China. Electronic address: zeng720@126.com.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Wenlin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Yaoyao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bian
mesh_terms: D000005:Abdomen / Q000601:surgery*; D000818:Animals; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001202:Ascitic Fluid / Q000378:metabolism; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D053583:Interleukin-1beta / Q000097:blood; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood; D011719:Pyrazines / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D051785:Smad Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D000267:Tissue Adhesions / Q000517:prevention & control*; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1 / Q000378:metabolism; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D053583:Interleukin-1beta; D015850:Interleukin-6; D011719:Pyrazines; D051785:Smad Proteins; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; C017953:tetramethylpyrazine
keywords: Abdominal adhesions; Ligustrazine; Smad7; TGF-β(1); p-Smad2/3