Influence of Chinese herbal drugs combined with Radix Platycodi on pathomorphological changes in rats with COPD

Objective To observe the influence of Chinese herbal drugs with the effects of clearing away heat and removing toxin combined with Radix Platycodi on the pathomorphological changes in rats with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD),and to investigate the action of Radix Platycodi in the treatment of COPD.Methods The rat model of COPD was established by using the method of cigarette smoking combined with intratracheal injection of LPS.All rats were divided into the sham-operation group,model group and 5 Chinese herbal drug(CHD) groups(group 1 with Radix Platycodi,group 2 with Radix Platycodi and Radix Glycyrrhizae,group 3 with Honeysuckle and Forsythia,group 4 with Radix Platycodi,Honeysuckle and Forsythia,and group 5 with Radix Platycodi,Radix Glycyrrhizae,Honeysuckle and Forsythia).The sham-operation group,model group were given intragastrically the normal saline solution for 28 days,and 5 CHD groups were given corresponding herbal drugs intragastrically for 28 days.The pathomorphological changes in rats were observed by microscope and electron microscope in different groups.The changes of pulmonary mean lining intercept(MLI) and mean alveolar numbers(MAN) were observed after the semi-quantitative analysis on pathological sections.Results The results of pathology showed that the model group had more serious injury of lung tissue and more inflammatory cells compared with the sham-operation group.The pathological changes of COPD in group 1,2 and 3 had no significant difference compared with those in the model group,but were relieved significantly in group 4 and 5.The results of the semi-quantitative analysis showed that MLI in group 4 had significant difference compared with that in the model group(P0.05),and MAN in group 5 had great significant difference compared with that in the model group(P0.01).Conclusion In the treatment of COPD Chinese herbal drugs with the effects of clearing away heat and removing toxin combined with Radix Platycodi have synergized action(meridian guiding),and Radix Glycyrrhizae has cooperative synergized action(meridian guiding) too.