Background: The etiopathogenesis of ulcerative colitis (UC) is still unclarified, hence, it is important to use new technology
and medicinal intervention for its further study. Aims: Through the detection of P-selectin expression in oxazolone-induced colitis in mice and to investigate the possible therapeutic use of
tetramethylpyrazine (TMP) in ulcerative colitis and its mechanism of action. Methods: Forty mice were divided randomly in five group, 8 mice in each group: normal control group, model group, low dose group (TMP 0.5 mg/ml), moderate dose group (TMP 1 mg/ml) and high dose group (TMP 2 mg/ml). Except the normal control group, experimental colitis was induced in all mice by oxazolone enema. All mice were sacrificed 3 days later, and peripheral blood
mononuclear cells (PBMC), splenic mononuclear cells (SMC) and intestinal mucosal lamina propria mononuclear cells (LPMC) were isolated and cultured in vitro together with TMP. Expression of P-selectin in SMC, LPMC was determined by fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results: In all three types of mononuclear cells, the expression of P-selectin in the model group, low-and high-dose TMP groups was significantly higher than that in normal control group (P<0.01). In SMC and LPMC, the expression of P-selectin in moderate-and high-dose TMP groups was lower than that in model group (P<0.05). Conclusions: The results indicate that expression of P-selectin was increased in oxazolone-induced colitis and can be inhibited by TMP.