Betaine Improves Gastrointestinal Function in Anorexic Rats
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Abstract:
In this study, the ameliorating effect of betaine on the gastrointestinal motility of anorexic rats via affecting the Ghrelin signaling pathway was studied. The betaine was prepared while the anorexic rat model was established, which was divided into four groups: the normal group, anorexic group, positive control group, and betaine group. The betaine group was administrated with 100 mg/kg betaine via gavage, the positive control group was administrated with 25 g/kg water-soluble Jianwei Xiaoshi table via gavage, and the normal group and the anorexic group were given 2 mL of distilled water via gavage. After drug intervention, the food intake, body weight, gastrointestinal motility, serum amylase, serum gastrin and the expression of Ghrelin signal pathway protein in the gastric antrum of the four groups were analyzed and compared. The results showed that with the intervention of betanin, the gastric residual rate in anorexic rats decreased from 62.35% to 42.65%, the small intestinal propulsion rate, content of serum amylase, and content of serum gastrin increased from 28.65%, 1779.65 U/L, 25.56 ng/L to 69.68%, 2101.22 U/L, 50.23 ng/L, respectively. The expression levels of the Ghrelin signaling pathway proteins, growth hormone receptor (GHSR), protein kinase C (PKC), alcohol triphosphate (IP3R) and myosin light chain (MLC) increased from 0.73, 0.13, 0.23 and 0.46 to 0.98, 0.95, 0.97 and 0.85, respectively, with the differences being statistically significant (p<0.05). It was found that betanin could increase the expression levels of GHSR, PKC, IP3R and MLC, reduce the residual rate of the stomach, and increase the small intestinal propulsion rate, serum amylase and serum gastrin level, through acting on the Ghrelin signaling pathway, thereby ameliorating the gastrointestinal motility disorder in anorexic rats, increasing the food intake and body weight, and ultimately alleviating the anorexic symptoms.
