Effects of Compound Duzhong Pills on IL-6 and IL-6 mRNA expression in Peripheral Blood of Patients with Lumbar Intervertebral Disc Herniation

Objective:To test the changes of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and IL-6 mRNA expression levels in peripheral blood of patients with lumbar intervertebral disc herniation (LIDH) and to study the mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine Compound Duzhong Pills in treating LIDH. Methods:The levels of IL-6 and IL-6 mRNA expression were detected by ELISA and RT-PCR in peripheral blood of normal people as well as in patients with LIDH before and after treatment. Results:The levels of IL-6 and IL-6 mRNA expression in patients before treatment were markedly increased compared with the healthy controls (P 0.05),and decreased dramatically after treatment,which was insignificant compared with the healthy controls (P0.05). Significant differences were observed in LIDH patients before and after treatment (P0.05). Conclusion:Compound Duzhong Pills can be a good therapy for LIDH by decreasing the levels of IL-6 and downregulating the expression of IL-6 mRNA in peripheral blood of patients with LIDH.