Protective effects of Kangfuxin liquid (Periplaneta Americana extract) on chronic atrophic gastritis in rats via anti-oxidative stress and inhibition of COX-2

Objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate the protective effects of Kangfuxin liquid (KFX) on experimental chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG) in rats and the mechanism of action. Methods: The chronic atrophic gastritis model rats’ were induced by synthetic methods for 16 weeks except for the rats in normal group. Then, the rats in normal and model groups were (i.g.) administrated with distilled water, the rats in positive control group were i.g. Sanjiu Weitai (SJWT) 8 g/kg, the rats in the three KFX treated groups were administered 2.0, 1.0, 0.5 ml/100 g body weight (BW), once per day for 4 weeks, respectively. By the end of the experiment, the rats were anesthetized with urethane and their stomachs were resected. Gastric juice was collected from stomach to detect the gastric acidity and pepsin. Serum was stored at -80°C for SOD, MDA and GSH-Px biochemical analysis. The mRNA and protein expression of COX-1 and COX-2 in the gastric tissue were detected by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and western blot analysis. Results: After KFX (2 ml/100 g, 1 ml/100 g) treatment for 4 weeks, the CAG rats’ gastric acid and pepsin were increased, the gastric histopathological changes were attenuated and closed to normal, the actives of SOD and GSH-Px increased, the concentration of MDA decreased, and the mRNA and protein expression of COX-2 were higher. Conclusion: KFX has the protective effect on chronic atrophic gastritis via anti-oxidative stress and inhibition of COX-2.