Kangfuxin solution alleviates esophageal stenosis after endoscopic submucosal dissection: A natural ingredient strategy

Table 1 Primary antibodies used in this study

Antibody name	Host	Brand, category No.	Country	Applications and dilution
				Western blot	IHC	IF
ACTA2	Rabbit	Proteintech	China	1:5000	1:800	1:100
FN	Rabbit	Proteintech	China	1:1000	1:200	1:100
Collagen Ⅰ	Rabbit	Proteintech	China	1:1000	1:500	1:100
TGF-β1	Mouse	Novus	United States	1:1000	-	-
Smad2	Rabbit	CST	United States	1:1000	-	-
Smad3	Rabbit	CST	United States	1:1000	-	-
P-Smad2	Rabbit	Affinity Biotech	United States	1:1000	1:100	1:50
P-Smad3	Rabbit	Affinity Biotech	United States	1:1000	1:100	1:50
Vimentin	Rabbit	Proteintech	China	-	-	1:200
Cytokerin	Rabbit	Abcam	China	-	-	1:200
GAPDH	Rabbit	CST	United States	1:1000	-	-

ACTA2: Alpha-smooth muscle actin; FN: Fibronectin; p-Smad2/3: Phosphor-Smad2/3; IHC: Immunohistochemistry; IF: Immunofluorescence; CST: Cell signaling technology.

Table 2 Primers used in this study

Primer name	Forward 5’ to 3’	Reverse 5’ to 3’
ACTA2	TAGAACACGGCATCATCACCAACTG	TGGGGCAACACGAAGCTCATTG
FN	GTGTGGATGTCCTGCCTGTCAAC	GCTTGCTTTCCCTGCCCTGATG
Collagen I	CTCAAGATGTGCCACTCCGACTG	GTCTCGCCTGTCTCCATGTTGC
TGF-β1	GACCGCAACAACGCAATCTATGAC	GGCACTGCTTCCCGAATGTCTG
Smad2	ATGTCGTCCATCTTGCCATTCACTC	TGCTTTCTCACACCACTTCTCTTCC
Smad3	TGTCGTCCATCCTGCCCTTCAC	ACTTCTCCTCCTGCCCGTTCTG
GAPDH	ATGATTCCACCCACGGCAAGTTC	AGCACCAGCATCACCCCATTTG

ACTA2: Alpha-smooth muscle actin; FN: Fibronectin; TGF-β1: Transforming growth factor.

Table 3 Summary of statistical results for the Control, Kangfuxin solution-treated, and PDNN-treated groups

	Control	KFX	PDNN	P value
Weight loss, kg	4.08 ± 0.69	1.98 ± 0.79b	2.03 ± 1.07b	0.011
Dysphagia score	3.50 ± 0.58	1.75 ± 0.50b	1.25 ± 0.96a	0.004
Esophageal stricture rate	87.68 ± 1.90	59.67 ± 5.05a	53.90 ± 6.29a	< 0.001
Number of inflammatory cells	1976.25 ± 116.39	950.25 ± 276.92a,e	1651.50 ± 153.97c	< 0.001
Number of fibroblasts	5736.25 ± 691.56	1537.00 ± 118.89a, f	710.00 ± 347.14a	< 0.001
Fibrosis area ratio	66.20 ± 8.95	34.63 ± 3.64a,f	23.47 ± 2.65a	< 0.001
Thickness of submucosal fibrosis, um	853.93 ± 20.16	672.20 ± 28.69a,d	512.83 ± 42.73a	< 0.001

^aP < 0.001 vs the control group.

^bP < 0.01 vs the control group.

^cP < 0.05 vs the control group.

^dP < 0.001 vs the prednisolone (PDNN) group.

^eP < 0.01 vs the PDNN group.

^fP < 0.05 vs the PDNN group.

Data are presented as mean ± SE. KFX: Kangfuxin solution; PDNN: Prednisolone.