Abstract: To observe the effect of ethyl acetate extract from sappan wood on T lymphocyte subsets and interleukin-6 of rats with ulcerative colitis (UC), 40 Wister rats were randomly divided into normal group, model group, sappan wood group and Sulfasalazine (SASP) group. Ulcerative colitis was induced by immunization with rabbit’s colonic mucous emulsified with completely Freund’s adjuvant in rats except normal group. The rats were respectively treated with enemas as follows physiological saline, ethyl acetate extract from sappan wood and SASP for 21 days. We analyzed expression of T lymphocyte subsets from peripheral blood with flow cytometry (FCAS methods) and measured the IL-6 contents in serum by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA methods). Results displayed that compared with normal group, CD4⁺ T lymphocytes, CD4⁺CD8⁺ratio and the IL-6 contents were increased significantly in model group, compared with model group, CD4⁺ T lymphocytes, CD4⁺CD8⁺ ratio and IL-6 content were reduced significantly in sappan wood group and SASP group, and no significant difference could be demonstrated between sappan wood group and SASP group. Evidences demonstrated that the ethyl acetate extract from sappan wood may regulate T lymphocyte subsets and reduce the contents of IL-6, consequently play a role of protection in rats with ulcerative colitis.

Key words: sappan wood; ulcerative colitis; T lymphocyte subsets; interleukin-6