Severity of
acute pancreatitis contributes to the modality of cell death. Pervious studies have demonstrated that the herb medicine formula "
Dachengqi Decoction" (DCQD) could ameliorate the severity of
acute pancreatitis. However, the
biological mechanisms governing its action of most remain unclear. The role of apoptosis/
necrosis switch within
acute pancreatitis has attracted much interest, because the induction of apoptosis within injured cells might suppress
inflammation and ameliorate the disease. In this study, we used
cerulein (10(-8) M)-stimulated AR42J cells as an in vitro model of
acute pancreatitis and retrograde perfusion into the biliopancreatic duct of 3.5%
sodium taurocholate as an in vivo rat model. After the treatment of DCQD, cell viability, levels of apoptosis and
necrosis,
reactive oxygen species positive cells, serum
amylase, concentration of
nitric oxide and inducible
nitric oxide syntheses, pancreatic tissue pathological score and inflammatory cell infiltration were tested. Pretreatment with DCQD increased cell viability, induced apoptosis, decreased
necrosis and reduced the severity of
pancreatitis tissue. Moreover, treatment with DCQD reduced the generation of
reactive oxygen species in AR42J cells but increased the concentration of
nitric oxide of
pancreatitis tissues. Therefore, the regulation of apoptosis/
necrosis switch by DCQD might contribute to ameliorating the pancreatic
inflammation and pathological damage. Further, the different effect on
reactive oxygen species and
nitric oxide may play an important role in DCQD-regulated apoptosis/
necrosis switch in
acute pancreatitis.