Effects of total alkaloid of Sophora alopecuroides on serum IL-1β and IL-4expression in mice with acute ulcerative colitis

To investigate the effects of total alkaloid of Sophora alopecuroides (TASA) on expression of serum IL-1beta and IL-4 in mice with DSS-induced acute ulcerative colitis.C57BL/C mice were randomly divided into six groups: normal group, model group, SASP group, low, middle and high dosage TASA group. Acute ulcerative colitis was induced by administrating 5% dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) solution as drinking water freely for 8 days. Mice were given drug by stomach at the same time and sacrificed after 8 days. The general morphological and histopathological changes were observed during the experiments. Daily disease activity index (DAI) was assessed. The serum levels of IL-1beta and IL-4 were detected by ELISA.In UC mice, the expression of serum IL-1beta was significantly increased whereas IL-4 was decreased when compared with the normal group (P < 0.01). In all treatment groups, TASA could reduce the expression of IL-1beta (P < 0. 01) , increase the level of IL-4 and alleviate the symptom of UC and decrease the DAI.TASA can effectively attenuate DSS-induced acute ulcerative colitis through the decreasing the over-expression of pro-inflammatory cytokine levels.