Objective To investigate the effect of the traditional Chinese medicine “Tetrandrine”(TET) and its significance on epidermal growth factor(EGF) and its receptor(EGFR) in the lung of nitrofen-induced congenital diaphragmatic hernia(CDH) rat model. Methods Twenty female rats were given maternal administration of a single oral dose (115 mg/rat) of nitrofen to induce CDH at 9.5 days after pregnancy and were dividedinto normal solution group(NS, n=5), dexamethasone group (Dex, n=5),tetrandrine group (TET, n=5) and Dex+TET group(n=5) at 18.5 days; 4 rats were given edible oil as controls. All fetuses were delivered by cesarean section at 21.5 days. Lung histologic evaluations and EGF, EGFR immunohistochemical staining and image analysis were performed. Results CDH was observed in 64 of the 137 rat fetuses (46.7%) in the experimental groups; no CHD was observed in 36 rat fetuses of control group. The lungs of CDH fetuses showed marked hypoplasia in NS group, in contrast to improved mesenchymal differentiationin that of Dex, TET, Dex+TET groups. The expression of EGF was weaker and weaker and that of EGFR was ber and ber as following order: NS, TET, DEX, T+D and control groups; showing significant differences between them (Plt;0.05). Conclusion Prenatal TET administration shows marked improvement in pulmonary hypoplasia through preregulating crest-time of EGF expression and upregulating EGFR expression in the lungs of nitrofen-induced CDH rat model. A combination of TET and Dex would generate evident synergistic effect.
