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©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
Compound spleen-tonifying composition alleviates dextran sulfate sodium-induced ulcerative colitis in rats
Wen-Cui Zhao, Qing-Lan Zhao, Yan Zhang, Nan Zhao, Jia-Qi Tian, Yan-Yun Wu, Wei Zhang
Wen-Cui Zhao, Wei Zhang, Department of First Outpatient, The 964th Hospital of the Joint Logistics Support Force, Changchun 130062, Jilin Province, China
Qing-Lan Zhao, Department of Pharmacy, Changchun People's Hospital, Changchun 130051, Jilin Province, China
Yan Zhang, Department of Oral Therapy, The 964th Hospital of the Joint Logistics Support Force, Changchun 130062, Jilin Province, China
Nan Zhao, Department of Medical Engineering, The 964th Hospital of the Joint Logistics Support Force, Changchun 130062, Jilin Province, China
Jia-Qi Tian, 31692 Unit of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, Jilin 132000, Jilin Province, China
Yan-Yun Wu, Department of Quality Management, The 964th Hospital of the Joint Logistics Support Force, Changchun 130062, Jilin Province, China
Co-first authors: Wen-Cui Zhao and Qing-Lan Zhao.
Co-corresponding authors: Yan-Yun Wu and Wei Zhang.
Author contributions: Zhao WC and Zhao QL contribute equally to this study and are listed as co-first authors; Wu YY and Zhang W contribute equally to this study and are listed as co-corresponding authors; Zhang Y, Zhao N and Tian JQ designed the experiments and conducted clinical data collection; Zhao WC, Zhao QL, Wu YY and Zhang W performed postoperative follow-up and recorded the data, conducted the collation and statistical analysis, and wrote the original manuscript and revised the paper; all authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by Jilin Province Science and Technology Development Plan Project, No. 20210204012YY.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: This study was reviewed and approved by the Animal Experiment Committee of the 964th Hospital of the Joint Logistics Support Force.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
ARRIVE guidelines statement: The authors have read the ARRIVE guidelines, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the ARRIVE guidelines.
Data sharing statement: All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (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:
https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/ Corresponding author: Yan-Yun Wu, Department of Quality Management, The 964
th Hospital of the Joint Logistics Support Force, No. 4799 Xi'an Road, Lvyuan District, Changchun 130062, Jilin Province, China.
wyy964yy@163.com
Received: June 5, 2025
Revised: July 22, 2025
Accepted: August 18, 2025
Published online: October 27, 2025
Processing time: 140 Days and 18 Hours
BACKGROUND
Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic relapsing inflammatory bowel disease with rising global incidence. Current therapies for UC often provide incomplete relief and are associated with adverse side effects, highlighting the need for alternatives with increased safety and effectiveness. Compound spleen-tonifying composition (CSTC) contains ingredients, such as Pulsatilla chinensis (Bunge) Regel and Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch, that have been shown to be efficacious in the treatment of UC. Its mechanism needs to be investigated further.
AIM
To study the therapeutic effect and mechanism of CSTC in dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced UC in rats.
METHODS
Sprague-Dawley rats were freely given 4% DSS solution for seven days to establish the UC model. After intervention with CSTC and its different solvent extracts, body weight changes, the disease activity index (DAI), and colon histopathology were assessed to evaluate therapeutic outcomes. The contents of superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), myeloperoxidase (MPO), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-px), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in colon tissue were determined to investigate changes in biochemical indicators.
RESULTS
DSS administration triggered severe UC symptoms, including weight loss, colon shortening, elevated DAI scores, and histological damage. These symptoms were accompanied with oxidative stress (reduced SOD and GSH-px levels and increased MDA and MPO levels), inflammation (elevated TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 levels), and a reduction in the expression levels of tight junction proteins [zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1) and occluding]. High- and medium-dose CSTC treatment significantly alleviated clinical symptoms, restored colon morphology, normalized oxidative stress markers, suppressed proinflammatory cytokines, and enhanced ZO-1 and occludin levels, demonstrating dose-dependent efficacy. Notably, solvent extraction critically influenced bioactivity: Nonpolar extracts (chloroform and petroleum ether) showed minimal effects, whereas polar extracts (ethyl acetate and n-butanol) remarkably improved clinical symptoms.
CONCLUSION
The above findings highlight CSTC’s multifaceted anti-UC effects, which are mediated through oxidative stress mitigation and cytokine modulation, while emphasizing the polarity-dependent efficacy of its extracts.
Core Tip: This study reveals that the compound spleen-tonifying composition (CSTC), a traditional Chinese medicine formula, alleviates ulcerative colitis (UC) through dual modulation of oxidative stress, inflammation and tight junction protein expression. Crucially, bioactivity is polarity-dependent: Polar solvent extracts (ethyl acetate/n-butanol) show superior efficacy to non-polar extracts in restoring intestinal barrier integrity, reducing dextran sulfate sodium-induced damage, and normalizing inflammatory/oxidative markers. This is the first report establishing extraction methodology as a critical determinant of CSTC’s therapeutic effects, providing a novel strategy for optimizing herbal formulations against UC.
