Aim To investigate the effects of sini decoction(SND) on
intestinal mucosa cell apoptosis and its mechanism after
Intestinal
ischemia reperfusion in rats.Methods Twenty-four Sprague-Dawley rats of both sexes were randomly divided into 3 equal groups:①control group in which sham operation was performed;②model group in which intestinal I/R was produced by clamping super mesenteric artery(SMA) for 1 hour and declamping SMA for 3 hours;③SND group in which SND(3 g·kg -1)was given via stomach tube for 3 days before operation. A strip of small intestine was taken from distal end of ileum for electron microscopic examination; SOD activity, MDA and ceramide concentration of
intestinal mucosa were detected;Apoptosis of intestinal mucosa cell was examined by TUNEL method and Sphingomyelinase (SMase) mRNA
expression was analyzed by RT-PCR.Results In model group, many typical apoptotic epithelial cells were seen under electron microscopic, apoptosis index was higher than that in control group(P<0.01). SOD activity of model group was significantly lower than that of control group(P<0.01), but MDA and ceramide content as well as SMase mRNA expression were obviously higher than those in control group(P<0.01).In addition, In model group, ceramide content was positively correlated to apoptosis index(r=0.852,P<0.01),and negativel y to SOD activity (r=-0.775,P< 0.01).The pretreatment of SND change d the above abnormal phenomena significantly(P<0.01). Conclusion SND can reduce intestinal mucosa cell apoptosis by removing oxygen free r adical, downregulation of SMase mRNA expression and suppression of ceramide production.