Effect of herbal serum on macrophage migration inhibitory factor expression induced by high glucose in myocardial cells

Objectives To investigate the effects of the Yiqihuatanqingdu decoction on serum concentrations of macrophage migration inhibitory factor(MIF) and how the herbal serum affect MIF mRNA expression induced by high glucose in H9C2 cells. Methods The herbal decoction which consisted of radix astragali, radix codonopsis, radix ilicis pubescentis and so on were prepared. According to the herbal decoction concentration, 40 SD rats were randomly divided into four groups: control group, low, medium and high dose groups. Their serum MIF concentrations were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA). H9C2 cells cultured with 33 mmol / L of glucose were treated with three groups of herbal serum. MIF mRNA expressions were detected by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction(RTPCR). Results Compared with control group, serum concentrations of MIF significantly decreased in low to high dosegroups(P0.05). Expression of MIF in H9C2 cells cultured with high glucose significantly increased, but significantly decreased after treated with herbal-containing serum. Expression of MIF in the three groups were significantly inhibited by herbal-containing serum(P 0.05), especially in high dose group(P 0.01). Herbal-containing serum decreased the expression of MIF mRNA in a dose-dependent manner. Conclusions The Yiqihuatanqingdu decoction can significantly inhibit the serum concentration of the pro-inflammatory factor MIF in rats and its containing serum can decrease the expression of MIF mRNA in H9C2 cells induced by high glucose.