Brief Article
Copyright copy;2010 Baishideng Publishing Group Co.
World J Gastroenterol. Sep 7, 2010; 16(33): 4193-4199
Published online Sep 7, 2010. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v16.i33.4193
Figure 1
Figure 1 The effects of Arctium lappa L. in dextran sulfate sodium-induced colitis in mice. Weight lost in Arctium lappa L. (AL) or control mice exposed to 5% dextran sulfate sodium (DSS). Values are mean ± SD; n = 5 in each group. Data were analyzed by Student’s t test. Statistical significance is based on the difference between DSS only-treated mice and DSS plus AL-treated mice (aP < 0.05).
Figure 2
Figure 2 The disease activity index in mice. Colonic disease activity indices were scored as described in Materials and Methods. Data are expressed as mean ± SD; n = 5. Statistical comparison between the 2 groups was performed using the Student’s t test. The level of significance was set to P < 0.05 (aP < 0.05). AL: Arctium lappa L.; DSS: Dextran sulfate sodium.
Figure 3
Figure 3 Histological analysis of mice. A: Colon section from control (water treated) animals showing normal colon tissue architecture (HE, × 400); B: Colon section from Arctium lappa L. (AL)-treated animals showing normal histological architecture with no inflammatory cell infiltration, edema or crypt abscesses (HE, × 400); C, D: Colon section from dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-treated animals showing severe submucosal erosion with edema, ulceration, inflammatory cell infiltration (indicated with arrows) and crypt abscesses as well as epithelioglandular hyperplasia (C: HE, × 200, D: HE, × 400); E: Colon section from animals challenged with DSS after prior treatment with AL showing normal histological architecture with slight inflammatory cell infiltration and no submucosal edema or abnormality of crypt cells (HE, × 400). All the results are representative of 3 independent experiments.
Figure 4
Figure 4 The level of inflammatory cytokine expression in mouse colon sections (HE, × 400). The expression level of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in the colonic samples was determined using anti-IL-6 and TNF-α monoclonal antibody. AL: Arctium lappa L.; DSS: Dextran sulfate sodium.