Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Aug 28, 2021; 27(32): 5392-5403
Published online Aug 28, 2021. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v27.i32.5392
Therapeutic effect of Cistanche deserticola on defecation in senile constipation rat model through stem cell factor/C-kit signaling pathway
Xia Zhang, Fa-Juan Zheng, Zhen Zhang
Xia Zhang, Fa-Juan Zheng, Department of Science and Education, Chongqing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chongqing 400021, China
Zhen Zhang, Department of Anorectal, Chongqing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chongqing 400021, China
Author contributions: Zhang Z designed the study; Zhang X and Zhang Z wrote the manuscript and were involved in revision, editing and review; Zhang X reformatted the manuscript; Zheng FJ was involved in the animal experiment process and data collation and input; All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by Natural Science Foundation of Chongqing, No. cstc2017jcyjAX0306.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Chongqing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Ethics Committee, No. Cstc2017jcyjAX0306.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There is no conflict of interest associated with any of the senior author or other coauthors contributed their efforts in this manuscript.
Data sharing statement: Technical appendix, statistical code, and dataset available from the corresponding author at zhangzhen@cdutcm.edu.cn. Participants gave informed consent for data sharing.
ARRIVE guidelines statement: The authors have read the ARRIVE guidelines, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the ARRIVE guidelines.
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: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Zhen Zhang, MD, Deputy Director, Department of Anorectal, Chongqing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 6 Seventh Branch of Panxi Road, Jiangbei District, Chongqing 400021, China. zhangzhen@cdutcm.edu.cn
Received: April 7, 2021
Peer-review started: April 7, 2021
First decision: May 27, 2021
Revised: June 3, 2021
Accepted: July 20, 2021
Article in press: July 20, 2021
Published online: August 28, 2021
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Chronic constipation is a common functional gastrointestinal disease that seriously affects the quality of life, especially for senile patients. Cistanche deserticola (C. deserticola) is one kind of herb that can improve constipation obviously, but the mechanism of it is unclear. Since it increases the frequency of defecation, we suppose that its therapeutic effect is due to increased intestinal motility by an important signaling pathway, stem cell factor (SCF)/C-kit, located on the surface of interstitial Cajal cells.

Research motivation

The treatment of chronic constipation is not encouraging, and the available drugs cannot meet the clinical needs. New drugs are needed to safely increase intestinal motility and improve symptoms. New drugs should be based on in-depth studies of the mechanisms of some foods that are currently widely and safely used. C. deserticola is one kind of herb that has been used for thousands of years in Traditional Chinese Medicine for constipation. Benefits would be evident from more studies about the treatment mechanisms.

Research objectives

To investigate the mechanism of how C. deserticola treats constipation, this study aimed to establish a constipation model in rats and explore the role of the SCF/C-kit signaling pathway in the treatment.

Research methods

In the case of blank control group, a constipation rat model was first established. While these rats were treated with C. deserticola, a group of rats were specifically blocked from the target signaling pathway. The symptoms and defecation of these different groups of rats were observed, and the tissue and gene expression in which the target signaling pathway was located were observed to explain whether the SCF/C-kit signaling pathway plays a key role in the therapeutic effect of C. deserticola.

Research results

The model was successfully established, and the therapeutic effect of C. deserticola was also obvious. In the group where the target signaling pathway was blocked, the therapeutic effect of C. deserticola was significantly reduced, as reflected by histological and immunohistochemical changes as well as signal-pathway-related genes and proteins such as connexin 43, aquaporin 3 expression changes. C. deserticola can inhibit expression of aquaporin 3 and promote expression of connexin 43 through the SCF/C-kit pathway, thereby improving the constipation induced by loperamine and reducing colonic tissue damage in aged rats.

Research conclusions

This study provided a good theoretical basis for clinical use of C. deserticola. Furthermore, the SCF/C-kit signal pathway plays an important role of constipation treatment of C. deserticola. There is likely more mechanisms related to it, for the effect of C. deserticola was not blocked completely.

Research perspectives

The improvement of intestinal motility is the core point in the treatment of constipation. However, further research on intestinal dynamics is still needed. The research on intestinal dynamics of interstitial Cajal cells is still a focus of attention, but whether there is an unknown mechanism of its function is one of the directions of future research. In the meantime, herbs should also be more widely valued.