The protective effect of NF-κB signaling pathway inhibitor PDTC on mice with chronic atrophic gastritis

To understand the protective effect of NF-κB signaling pathway inhibitor pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate (PDTC) on mice with chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG).

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection combined with high-salt diet was used to construct the CAG mouse model, and 100 or 200 mg/kg/day PDTC was intragastrically treated for 8 weeks. Then, hematoxylin and eosin (HE) and Alcian blue-periodic acid-Schiff (AB-PAS) staining were used to observe the pathology of gastric mucosa, while immunohistochemistry, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), enzyme-linked immuno sorbent assay (ELISA) and western blotting were determined to detect the expression of related molecules.

The nuclear content of NF-κB p65 in the gastric mucosa of the CAG mice was increased accompanying by the structural disorder of the gastric mucosal epithelium, inflammatory cell infiltration, intestinal metaplasia, and increased MUC2 expression, but the symptoms were alleviated after PDTC treatment. In addition, the expressions of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 and COX2 in the gastric mucosa and serum of CAG mice were higher than those control mice, which were reduced in CAG mice treated with either 100 or 200 mg/kg PDTC. Furthermore, 100 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg PDTC treatments reduced the serum PGE₂ in CAG mice with the decreased PCNA and Ki-67 expression in gastric mucosa. The therapeutic effect of 200 mg/kg PDTC was significantly better than that of 100 mg/kg PDTC.

PDTC inhibited inflammation and the excessive proliferation of gastric mucosal epithelial cells, thereby exerting a potential therapeutic effect on CAG.