ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.
Sec. Intestinal Microbiome
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2025.1608271
This article is part of the Research TopicCan Chinese Medicines Affect Diarrhea via Effects of the Intestinal Microbiota on the Renal-Intestinal Axis? Volume IIView all articles
Synergistic Treatment of Sodium Propionate and Sishen Pill for Diarrhea Mice with Kidney-Yang Deficiency Syndrome
Provisionally accepted
- Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, China
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Objective: This study aimed to investigate the therapeutic effects of sodium propionate in combination with Sishen Pill in the treatment of diarrhea with kidney-yang deficiency syndrome in mice, with a focus on its influence on intestinal microbiota, enzyme activity, and associated therapeutic outcomes.Compared with natural recovery group, the 480 mg/kg sodium propionate group presented significant improvements in mental state, anal temperature, fecal water content, the thymus index, and Bifidobacterium counts (p < 0.01). Compared with those in normal group, the fecal water content and Escherichia coli counts in the 100% Sishen Pill group were significantly different (p < 0.01), but no significant differences were observed compared with those in natural recovery group (p > 0.05).The 75% Sishen Pill + 60 mg/kg sodium propionate group showed improvements in mental state, food and water intake, body weight, rectal temperature, fecal water content, spleen, and thymus index, Bifidobacterium counts, total bacterial count, E. coli count, microbial activity, and lactase activity, which were close to normal levels, and significant differences were observed when compared to the natural recovery group (p < 0.01). .Furthermore, the 50% Sishen Pill + 120 mg/kg sodium propionate group presented significant changes in fecal water content (p < 0.01), whereas 25% Sishen Pill + 240 mg/kg sodium propionate group presented significant differences in the spleen index, total bacterial count, E. coli count, protease activity, lactase activity, and xylanase activity compared with those of normal group (p < 0.01). The 75% Sishen Pill + 60 mg/kg sodium propionate can improve the symptoms of kidney-yang deficiency syndrome, promote the growth and development of mice, inhibit excessive bacterial proliferation, support the growth of beneficial bacteria, and enhance intestinal enzyme activity. Its effects are superior to the use of sodium propionate or Sishen Pill alone. These results suggest that this therapeutic ratio may optimize the efficacy of Sishen Pill in the treatment of diarrhea with kidney-yang deficiency syndrome. However, further research is necessary to confirm whether this combination represents the most effective treatment regimen for this condition in mice.
Keywords: Sishen Pill, Sodium propionate, Kidney-yang Deficiency Syndrome, Intestinal microorganisms, enzyme activity
Received: 08 Apr 2025; Accepted: 13 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Guo, Di and Lei. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Zhijun Lei, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, China
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