Therapeutic effect and mechanism of Yougui Wan in rats with intervertebral disk degeneration

Abstract Objective To explore the potential mechanism of Yougui Wan on deformed lumbar intervertebral disk structure in rats. Methods Thirty male Sprague–Dawley rats were randomly divided into 3 groups, with 10 rats in each group. The animals in the blank control group were healthy rats without specific treatment, and those in the model group and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) group were used to establish the intervertebral disk degeneration (IDD) model by puncturing the annulus. Four weeks after modeling, rats in the TCM group were administered Yougui Wan by gavage for 2 consecutive weeks. Serum interleukin-6 (IL-10), macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) levels were measured by ELISA, and the protein expression levels of collagen II and Notch1 in intervertebral disk tissues were examined by Western blotting. Apoptosis was detected by the TUNEL method. Results Compared with those in the blank group, IL-10, MIF and TNF-α levels in the model group and TCM group were increased (P