The Administration of Jeungmiyijin-tang to Rats with Induced Gastro Reflux Esophagitis

Objectives This study investigated the administration of Jeungmiyijin-tang (JYT) to rats with reflux esophagitis (RE) induced by pylorus and forestomach ligation operations. Methods Twenty laboratory rats were divided into three groups with 5~7 rats in each group. The control group consisted of rats with no inflammation (CON). The RE group had rats with gastroesophageal reflux elicited by pylorus and forestomach ligation operations. The JYT group had rats that were orally administered Jeungmiyijin-tang (1.5 ml/day/300 g) once a day for 14 days before reflux esophagitis was induced by the pylorus and forestomach ligation operations. Six hours after the operations, the rats were sacrificed, morphological changes were observed, and histological examinations were done in the stomach and esophagus lesion areas. If apoptosis was observed, the apoptotic cells in the esophagus lesion areas were counted. Results The morphological and histochemical changes consisted of various injuries from hemorrhagic erosion in the RE group, while there were significantly fewer in the JYT group. The RE group marked increases of gastric mucosa erosion and infiltration of inflammatory cells in the submucosa, as well as cell division in the epithelial layer, the proliferation and degranulation of mast cells, and increases in the IL-1β, TNF-α, and MMP-9 expressions in the esophagus of the rats. The JYT group was inhibited above expression compared with the RE group. Apoptosis was statistically significantly decreased in the JYT group compared with the RE group. Conclusions According to the above results, it appears that Jeungmiyijin-tang inhibits the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-a, IL-1β, and MMP-9) and apoptosis in the esophagus mucosa, thereby preventing esophageal mucosal damage from esophageal reflux. Keywords: Jeungmiyijin-tang, reflux esophagitis, TNF-α, IL-1β, MMP-9, pro-inflammatory cytokines, apotosis