Experimental Study of the Rheum Officinale Decoction on Intestinal and Liver Injury in Rats with Exertional Heat Stroke

ZHOU Xiaoling; MEI Xuan; WU Liqing; LI Xinbiao; WU Haicong; LI Dongliang

doi:10.13730/j.issn.2097-2148.2025.07.011

Abstract：Objective To investigate the protective effects of Rheum officinale decoction on intestinal and liver inju-ry in rats with exertional heat stroke(EHS)under high-temperature and high-humidity exercise and its possible mecha-nisms.Methods A total of 30 male SPF SD rats were subjected to adaptive incremental load running training,after training,6 rats with foot injuries or inability to move correctly were excluded,the remaining 24 rats were ran-domly assigned to control group,normal saline group and Rheum officinale decoction group,with 8 rats in each.The EHS was induced in rats of normal saline group and Rheum officinale decoction group by running under high-temper-ature and high-humidity environment,and the rats were treated with 1 ml/100 g 4℃ normal saline and Rheum officinale decoction by gavage at 0,4 and 8 h respectively;the rats in the control group did not exercise under normal temperature and humidity environment,and were given 1 ml/100 g 4℃ normal saline by gavage at the same time.Blood was collected from the inferior vena cava 12 h after drug administration to measure serum levels of alanine aminotransferase(ALT),as-partate aminotransferase(AST),interleukin 1 beta(IL-1β),IL-6,tumor necrosis factor alpha(TNF-α),lipopolysaccha-ride(LPS),intestinal fatty acid binding protein(IFABP),diamine oxidase(DAO)and D-lactic acid(D-LAC),addition-ally,pathological change of ileum and liver tissues alongside the examination of zonula occludens 1(ZO-1),E-cadherin and Occludin were observed,and the evaluation of Toll-like receptor 4/nuclear factor kappa B(TLR4/NF-κB)signaling path-way related protein expressions in the liver was detected.Results After EHS modeling,2 rats in the normal saline group and 1 rat in the Rheum officinale decoction group succumbed.Hematoxylin-eosin(HE)staining showed that the rats in the normal saline group and the Rheum officinale decoction group showed ileal mucosal injury and hepatocellular lesion;in the normal saline group,the intestinal epithelial exfoliation necrosis and liver cell lysis necrosis of rats were more serious;the ileum tissue of rats in Rheum officinale decoction group showed edema and degeneration of villus,with regular and neat morphology,and occasionally a small amount of villus exfoliation.Compared to the control group,serum IL-1β,IL-6 and TNF-α levels were significantly elevated in both the normal saline and Rheum officinale decoction groups(all P＜0.01);in the normal saline group,the fluorescence staining of ileum mucosa was dim,and the expression of ZO-1,E-Cadherin and Occludin protein in villus terminal cells was weakened;DAO activity and IFABP level significantly increased(all P＜0.01),LPS level increased(P＜0.01);the levels of ALT and AST in the liver function indexes significantly in-creased(all P＜0.01),and the expression of TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway related proteins in the liver was significant-ly up-regulated(P＜0.05).Compared with the normal saline group,the Rheum officinale decoction group exhibited sig-nificantly lower levels of serum IL-1β,IL-6 levels,DAO activity,IFABP level,ALT and LPS levels(all P＜0.05),tight junction proteins were highly expressed in the ileum mucosa,and the expressions of TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway-re-lated proteins IKKα and p-NF-κB/NF-κB in the liver significantly decreased(all P＜0.05).Conclusion Rheum officinale decoction can alleviate intestinal and liver injury in rats with EHS,and its mechanism may be achieved by protecting intes-tinal mucosal barrier,reducing endotoxemia and inhibiting TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway.