Immunological regulation of Chinese herb Guizhi Fuling Capsule on rat endometriosis model

Aim of the study: To investigate the immunological regulation of Guizhi Fuling Capsule (GZFLC) on rat endometriosis. Materials and methods: Twenty-seven rats, in which endometriotic implants were induced by transplanting autologous uterine tissue to the peritoneum, were randomly divided into three groups equally: (1) the GZFLC group of low dose (480 mg/kg/day); (2) the GZFLC group of high dose (1920 mg/kg/day); and (3) the model group(saline solution). Another 10 rats were treated as sham operation group. After rats were treated for four weeks, we examined the alterations of implants volume, the percentage of CD4(+) T lympholeukocyte, the activity of NK cell and the expression of cytokines (MCP-1 and ICAM-1) on each group. Results: Statistical analysis showed that posttreatment volumes were significantly reduced compared with pretreatment in GZFLC groups, whereas there was no significant change in the model group. The percentage of CD4(+) T lympholeukocyte and the activity of NK cell in GZFLC groups significantly increased to the level of the sham group compared with the model. RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry showed that the endometria of the sham operation and treatment groups were similar on expression level of MCP-1 and ICAM-1. Conclusions: GZFLC plays an important role in the regression of endometriotic implants by immunological regulation in the rat model. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.