Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Apr 14, 2016; 22(14): 3769-3776
Published online Apr 14, 2016. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v22.i14.3769
Hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus stimulation reduces intestinal injury in rats with ulcerative colitis
Quan-Jun Deng, Ding-Jing Deng, Jin Che, Hai-Rong Zhao, Jun-Jie Yu, Yong-Yu Lu
Quan-Jun Deng, Department of Neurosurgery, General Hospital Affiliated to Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300052, China
Ding-Jing Deng, Jin Che, Hai-Rong Zhao, Department of Gastroenterology, General Hospital Affiliated to Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300052, China
Jun-Jie Yu, Yong-Yu Lu, Department of Cerebral Surgery, People’s Hospital of Haimen, Haimen 226100, Jiangsu Province, China
Author contributions: Deng QJ and Lu YY designed the research; Deng QJ, Deng DJ, Che J, Zhao HR, Lu YY and Yu JJ performed the research; Deng DJ, Che J, Zhao HR and Lu YY contributed new reagents/analytic tools; Deng QJ, Lu YY and Yu JJ analyzed the data; and Deng QJ and Lu YY wrote the paper.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board of Haimen People’s Hospital.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: All procedures involving animals were reviewed and approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the General Hospital Affiliated to Tianjin Medical University (IACUC protocol number: Shanghai Lab Animal Research Center, CP-GUIDE-IACUC-0458).
Conflict-of-interest statement: We declare that there is no conflict of interest to disclose in this study.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Yong-Yu Lu, Associate Chief Physician, Department of Cerebral Surgery, People’s Hospital of Haimen, People’s Road West, No. 253, Haimen 226100, Jiangsu Province, China. luyongyu8@sina.com
Telephone: +86-513-82217820 Fax: +86-513-82217820
Received: November 29, 2015
Peer-review started: November 30, 2015
First decision: December 16, 2015
Revised: January 11, 2016
Accepted: January 17, 2016
Article in press: January 19, 2016
Published online: April 14, 2016
Processing time: 120 Days and 18.5 Hours
Abstract

AIM: To investigate the effect and mechanism of stimulation of the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus with glutamate acid in rats with ulcerative colitis (UC).

METHODS: The rats were anesthetized with 10% chloral hydrate via abdominal injection and treated with an equal volume of TNBS + 50% ethanol enema, injected into the upper section of the anus with the tail facing up. Colonic damage scores were calculated after injecting a certain dose of glutamic acid into the paraventricular nucleus (PVN), and the effect of the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS) and vagus nerve in alleviating UC injury through chemical stimulation of the PVN was observed in rats. Expression changes of C-myc, Apaf-1, caspase-3, interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-17 during the protection against UC injury through chemical stimulation of the PVN in rats were detected by Western blot. Malondialdehyde (MDA) content and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in colon tissues of rats were measured by colorimetric methods.

RESULTS: Chemical stimulation of the PVN significantly reduced UC in rats in a dose-dependent manner. The protective effects of the chemical stimulation of the PVN on rats with UC were eliminated after chemical damage to the PVN. After glutamate receptor antagonist kynurenic acid was injected into the PVN, the protective effects of the chemical stimulation of the PVN were eliminated in rats with UC. After AVP-Vl receptor antagonist ([Deamino-penl, val4, D-Arg8]-vasopressin) was injected into NTS or bilateral chemical damage to NTS, the protective effect of the chemical stimulation of PVN on UC was also eliminated. After chemical stimulation of the PVN, SOD activity increased, MDA content decreased, C-myc protein expression significantly increased, caspase-3 and Apaf-1 protein expression significantly decreased, and IL-6 and IL-17 expression decreased in colon tissues in rats with UC.

CONCLUSION: Chemical stimulation of the hypothalamic PVN provides a protective effect against UC injury in rats. Hypothalamic PVN, NTS and vagus nerve play key roles in this process.

Keywords: Paraventricular nucleus; Nucleus tractus solitarius; Ulcerative colitis; Arginine vasopressin; 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid

Core tip: This study confirms that the chemical stimulation of the paraventricular nucleus with glutamic acid reduces intestinal injury in ulcerative colitis (UC). Furthermore, this study also discusses the possible regulatory mechanism of the central nervous system of rats with UC, so as to provide a theoretical basis for clinical treatment of UC.