After ceasing administration for 1 wk, HBV DNA returned to the original level. Similar results were obtained following administration of lamivudine to hepatitis B patients, suggesting that this transgenic mouse model can mimic HBV infection in man. Using real time PCR, we found that emodin APS significantly reduced serum HBV DNA content, although this effect was weaker than that observed with lamivudine. Interestingly, the reduction in serum HBV DNA content in the emodin APS group lasted longer, compared with the lamivudine group. This suggests that emodin APS had a weaker but long lasting antiviral effect on HBV. HBV antigens including HBsAg, HBcAg and HBeAg are important markers for hepatitis B development in patients . Our results indicate that emodin APS significantly decreased the expression of these antigens in both serum and liver tissue and lamivudine had a stronger inhibitory effect. The mechanism of this inhibition is still largely unknown. Previous studies have shown that emodin can inhibit several different viruses such as herpes simplex virus , parainfluenza virus and Coxsackie virus . More importantly, our previous study demonstrated that emodin can inhibit HBV replication in vitro .
Therefore it is not surprising that emodin can inhibit HBV in vivo. APS has been used for chronic liver disease in China for thousands of years, and is known to increase CD3 and CD4 T cells and Nafamostat the ratio of CD4 CD8 T cells in mice, suggesting an immunoregulative effect . Therefore, the combination of emodin and APS not only resulted in inhibition of HBV replication, but also regulation of the immunologic system to eradicate HBV in vivo. This may explain the weaker and long lasting effects of emodin APS. In conclusion, for the first time, we demonstrated that emodin and APS had a weak but long lasting inhibitory effect on HBV replication in vivo, which may provide a new therapeutic option for hepatitis B infection. Adult male Sprague Dawely rats, weighing 200 250 g, obtained from Animal Facility of Jinling Hospital , were housed under controlled temperature and humidity in a day night cycle, with free access to standard laboratory foot and water.
The study was approved by Animal Studies Ethics syk inhibitor selleck Committee of Jinling Hospital. Experiment model Acute pancreatitis was induced as previously described . Briefly, animals were anesthetized with intraperitoneal ketamine and acepromazine . The biliopancreatic duct was cannulated through the duodenum, and the hepatic duct was closed with a small bulldog clamp. Pancreatitis was induced by retrograde injection of 5 sodium taurocholate into the biliopancreatic duct , at a constant infusion pressure of 20 mmHg. Rats in sham operation group received retrograde sterile saline infusion.