Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 15, 2026

Chinese Herbal Retention Enema for the Treatment of Ulcerative Colitis
Published on: May 16, 2025
[Pulsatilla decoction treat inflammatory bowel disease by activating NLRP3]
Zhen-Lei Wang1, Ping-Ping Sun, Tian-Xiao Li
1The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China. homergates@qq.com
Objective:
To investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) by Pulsatilla decoction.
Methods:
84 BALB/c mice were randomly divided into ethanol control group, model group, SASP group, Pulsatilla decoction group (further divided into low, middle and high dose group) and zVAD group (n = 12). Intragastric and celiac drug administration were used in each group respectively. The expression of NLRP3, ASC, Caspase-1, IL-18 and IL-1beta in the colons were detected by fluorescence quantitative RT-PCR, Elisa and immunohistochemistry after treatment respectively.
Results:
Compared with the model group, SASP group, middle and high dose group could treat IBD effectively (P < 0.01), while this effect was restrained in zVAD group (P < 0.05). In the meantime, middle and high dose group could effectively raise the expression of NLRP3, ASC, Caspase-1, IL-18 and IL-1beta in the colons (P < 0.05), while this effect was also inhibited in zVAD group (P < 0.05).
Conclusion:
Pulsatilla decoction is likely to exert their therapeutic effect by activating NLRP3 inflammasome which further promote the formation of the corresponding inflammation factors such as 1L-18 and IL-1beta.
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