Integrated traditional Chinese medicine improves acute pancreatitis via the downregulation of PRSS1 and SPINK1

Abstract

Integrated traditional Chinese medicine (ITCM) is known to improve health in patients with acute pancreatitis (AP); however, the molecular mechanisms underlying this effect are unknown. AP is associated with the expression of PRSS1 and SPINK1. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate whether ITCM was able to ameliorate AP by regulating the expression levels of protein, serine 1 (PRSS1) and serine peptidase inhibitor, Kazal type 1 (SPINK1). A total of 100 AP patients were divided at random into two groups. The treatment group were treated externally with a herbal ITCM preparation, while the control group received a routine placebo treatment. The mRNA and protein expression levels of PRSS1 and SPINK1 were subsequently compared between the two groups. The results revealed that the health of the patients who had received ITCM improved significantly when compared with the control group patients (P<0.05). In addition, the expression levels of PRSS1 and SPINK1 were found to be lower in the treatment group when compared with the control group (P<0.05). Therefore, ITCM exhibited a significant therapeutic effect on AP and produced no side effects since the treatment was applied externally. ITCM may ameliorate AP by downregulating the expression of PRSS1 and SPINK1; thus, should be considered as a potential therapy for the development of drugs against AP.

Keywords: Kazal type 1; acute pancreatitis; integrated traditional Chinese medicine; protein; serine 1; serine peptidase inhibitor.

Figure 1

mRNA expression levels of (A) PRSS1 and (B) SPINK1 in AP patients before and after treatment. Patients were divided into three groups based on the severity of their AP; mild, modest and severe. Out of a total of 50 AP patients that underwent ITCM therapy, 26 exhibited mild AP (light grey), 13 exhibited modest AP (medium grey) and 11 patients had severe AP (dark grey). Following ITCM treatment, 29 patients exhibited excellent therapeutic results (26 mild, two modest and one severe), 17 patients exhibited effective results (11 modest and six severe) and four severe patients showed an ineffective response. Data are represented as the mean ± standard deviation of three independent experiments. ^*P<0.01, vs. value before treatment. AP, acute pancreatitis; ITCM, integrated traditional Chinese medicine.

Figure 2

Protein expression levels of (A) PRSS1 and (B) SPINK1 in AP patients before and after treatment. Patients were divided into three groups based on the severity of their AP; mild, modest and severe. Out of a total of 50 AP patients that underwent ITCM therapy, 26 exhibited mild AP (light grey), 13 exhibited modest AP (medium grey) and 11 patients were diagnosed with severe AP (dark grey). Following ITCM treatment, 29 patients exhibited excellent therapeutic results (26 mild, two modest and one severe), 17 patients exhibited an effective outcome (11 modest and six severe) and four severe patients showed an ineffective response. Data are represented as the mean ± standard deviation of three independent experiments. ^*P<0.01, vs. value before treatment. AP, acute pancreatitis; ITCM, integrated traditional Chinese medicine.