Pharmacological effects of ba-wei-xi-lei powder on ulcerative colitis in rats with enema application.

Ba-wei-xi-lei powder is a classical herbal mixture, and is widely used for the treatment of oral ulcer and ulcerative colitis. This study aimed to explore the effect of Ba-wei-xi-lei powder with enema application on ulcerative colitis in rats. Ulcerative colitis was induced by immunization with rabbit's colonic mucosal protein emulsified with Completely Freund's Adjuvant. The mucosal inflammatory reaction and ulcer have been observed in the model rats. Characteristic changes of ulceractive colitis include that CD4 lymphocyte increased in peripheral blood while CD8 lymphocyte decreased; CD8 lymphocyte and TNF-alpha expression area increased in colonic mucosa, while CD4 lymphocyte decreased. Ba-wei-xi-lei powder and sulfasalazine with enema application could alleviate the pathological changes in the model rats. The results suggest that the pharmacological effects of Ba-wei-xi-lei powder on ulcerative colitis in rats are similar to the effect of sulfasalazine.