Basic Research
Copyright ©2008 The WJG Press and Baishideng. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Oct 28, 2008; 14(40): 6188-6194
Published online Oct 28, 2008. doi: 10.3748/wjg.14.6188
Gardenia jasminoides protects against cerulein-induced acute pancreatitis
Won-Seok Jung, Young-Seok Chae, Do-Yun Kim, Sang-Wan Seo, Hee-Je Park, Gi-Sang Bae, Tae-Hyeon Kim, Hyo-Jeong Oh, Ki-Jung Yun, Rae-Kil Park, Jong-Suk Kim, Eun-Cheol Kim, Sung-Yeon Hwang, Sung-Joo Park, Ho-Joon Song
Won-Seok Jung, Jong-Suk Kim, Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Medical Science, Chonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonju, 570-749 Jeonbuk, South Korea
Won-Seok Jung, Young-Seok Chae, Sang-Wan Seo, Hee-Je Park, Gi-Sang Bae, Do-Yun Kim, Sung-Yeon Hwang, Sung-Joo Park, Ho-Joon Song, Department of Herbology, School of Oriental Medicine, Wonkwang University, Iksan, 570-749 Jeonbuk, South Korea
Sang-Wan Seo, Kohwang Medical Institute, College of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, 130-701 Seoul, South Korea
Tae-Hyeon Kim, Hyo-Jeong Oh, Department of internal medicine, College of Medicine, Wonkwng University, Iksan, 570-749 Jeonbuk, South Korea
Ki-Jung Yun, Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, Wonkwng University, Iksan, 570-749 Jeonbuk, South Korea
Rae-Kil Park, Vestibulocochlear Research Center & Department of Microbiology, College of Medicine, Wonkwng University, Iksan, 570-749 Jeonbuk, South Korea
Eun-Cheol Kim, Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Pathology, Dental College, Wonkwang University, Iksan, 570-749 Jeonbuk, South Korea
Author contributions: Jung WS and Chae YS contributed equally to the research; Kim DY, Seo SW, Park HJ and Bae GS performed in vivo experiments; Kim TH and Oh HJ perfomed MPO; Yun KJ and Park RK performed immunohistochemistry; Kim JS, Kim EC, Hwang SY and Park SJ performed ELISA and RT-PCR: Jung WS and Song HJ wrote the paper.
Supported by The Ministry of Science & Technology (MoST)/Korea Science & Engineering Foundation (KOSEF) through the Vestibulocochlear Research Center (VCRC) at Wonkwang University (R13-2002-055-00000-0)
Correspondence to: Ho-Joon Song, Department of Herbology, School of Oriental Medicine, Wonkwang University, Iksan, Jeonbuk 570-749, South Korea. parksj08@wku.ac.kr
Telephone: +82-63-8506450 Fax: +82-63-8562283
Received: April 4, 2008
Revised: July 17, 2008
Accepted: July 24, 2008
Published online: October 28, 2008
Abstract

AIM: To investigate the effect of Gardenia jasminoides (GJ) on cerulein-induced acute pancreatitis (AP) in mice.

METHODS: C57BL/6 mice weighing 18-20 g were divided into three groups. (1) Normal saline-treated group, (2) treatment with GJ at a dose of 0.1 g/kg, (3) treatment with GJ at a dose of 1 g/kg. GJ was administered orally (n = 6 per group) for 1 wk. Three hours later, the mice were given an intraperitoneal injection of cerulein (50 μg/kg), a stable cholecystokinin (CCK) analogue, every hour for a total of 6 h as described previously. The mice were sacrificed at 6 h after completion of cerulein injections. Blood samples were obtained to determine serum amylase, lipase and cytokine levels. The pancreas was rapidly removed for morphologic examination and scoring. A portion of pancreas was stored at -70°C and prepared for the measurement of tissue myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity, an indicator of neutrophil sequestration, and for reverse-transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) and real-time PCR measurements.

RESULTS: Treatment with GJ decreased significantly the severity of pancreatitis and pancreatitis-associated lung injury. Treatment with GJ attenuated the severity of AP compared with saline-treated mice, as shown by reduction in pancreatic edema, neutrophil infiltration, serum amylase and lipase levels, serum cytokine levels, and mRNA expression of multiple inflammatory mediators.

CONCLUSION: These results suggest that GJ attenuated the severity of AP as well as pancreatitis-associated lung injury.

Keywords: Gardenia jasminoides, Acute pancreatitis, Cerulein