Effect of Pingfei Oral Liquid on the Distribution of Mast Cells and Expression of IL- 6 in Radiation Pneumonia Rats

Liu, X., Pan, L., Li, H., Xu, B., Jin, Yy., Jia, J., Li, Pw. & Cheng, Zq. Traditional Chinese Drug Research & Clinical Pharmacology. Traditional Chinese Drug Research & Clinical Pharmacology. 2009-04. DOI CNKI:SUN:ZYXY.0.2009-04-005

Objective: To investigate the effect of Pingfei Oral Liquid (POL) on the distribution of mast cells (MCs) and the expression of interleukin 6 (IL-6) in the lung tissue of radiation pneumonia rats. Methods Forty-five SD rats were randomised into 3 groups: normal control, model group and POL group. The rat model of radiation lung fibrosis was set up by a single X-ray dose of 20Gy irradiation over the whole chest of the rats. POL (20 g· kg-1· d-1, once a day, five times a week) was given orally one week before irradiation and the treatment lasted 5 weeks. MCs in the lung tissue were stained with toluidine blue firstly and then were counted 2, 4 and 8 weeks after irradiation. IL-6 protein expression of lung tissue was measured by immunohistochemical assay 8 weeks after irradiation, and mRNA expression was determined with RT-PCR 4 weeks after irradiation.
Results: It? s showed the aggregation of large amount of pulmonary mast cells and increase of IL-6 protein expression 8 weeks after irradiation (P 0.01). IL-6 mRNA expression in the irradiated lung of rats increased 4 weeks after irradiation (P 0.01). POL could reduce the aggregation of MCs (P 0.01) and the expression of IL-6 protein (P 0.01) and mRNA (P 0.05) in the lung tissue.
Conclusion: POL can prevent radiation pneumonia in rats by reducing the aggregation of mast cells and inhibiting IL-6 expression in the lung tissue.