Temperature-sensitive hydrogel for rectal perfusion improved the therapeutic effect of Kangfuxin liquid on DSS-induced ulcerative colitis mice: The inflammation alleviation and the colonic mucosal barriers repair

Kangfuxin liquid (KFX) is a Chinese medicine extracted from Periplaneta americana dried worms, which presented the bioactive functions of anti-inflammation and promoting the gastrointestinal mucosal barriers repair. But the low availability of KFX exposed to the distal colon affects its therapeutic effect on ulcerative colitis. Herein, an in situ hydrogel containing KFX was designed by using temperature-sensitive poloxamer 407 (P-407) as material for rectal administration. Three KFX-P formulations with different P407 concentrations (17%, 20% and 25%) were designed and screened by detecting the gelation time, gelation temperature and mechanical strength of hydrogel. P407 in these formulations was able to be completely dissolved in KFX at 4 ℃ and then was in situ gelled at 37 ℃ to form a semisolid hydrogel. Moreover, the gelation time, the gelation temperature and the mechanical strength of KFX-P hydrogel are highly dependent on P407 concentration. With P407 concentration increasing, both the gelation time and gelation temperature of KFX-P accordingly decreased and the gelation temperature range becomes narrowed; while the mechanical strength increased. KFX-P-20% displayed the moderate gelation temperature (28–30 ℃), the short gelation time (26 s) and the moderate mechanical strength (G′ = 4.2 × 103 Pa), which was chosen for animal study. Thereafter, ulcerative colitis mice model (UC) was established by dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) and the therapeutic effect of KFX-P on UC was evaluated by inflammation symptoms relief, colon length, colonic MPO level and colonography. After rectal administration of KFX or KFX-P, the symptoms including diarrhea and hematochezia (DAI scores), weight loss and spleen swelling were significantly hindered. Meanwhile, the colonic MPO level in these groups was significantly decreased in comparison with PBS treatment. But the therapeutic effect of KFX-P was better than KFX. Besides, the morphology and mucosal barrier of colon were evaluated by HE staining, ZO-1 and claudin-5 staining. The mucosa epithelium layer, crypt, muscle layer mucosa and submucosa were also well repaired after KFX-P treatment. The strong fluorescence of ZO-1 and claudin-5 were uniformly distributed along the whole epithelial mucosa after KFX-P treatment, indicating the effective repairing of the colonic mucosal barrier. Collectively, the temperature-sensitive KFX-P for rectal delivery could effectively promote the repair of the colon mucosal barrier and inhibit the colonic inflammation in DSS-induced mice, which may be a potential strategy for UC treatment.