[Effects of the combination of musk and olibanum on the expressions of tight junction proteins in the prostate epithelial cells of rats].

Objective: To investigate the effects of the combination of musk and olibanum on the tight junction protein expressions in prostatic epithelial cells of normal and chronic prostatitis (CP) rats.

Methods: Eighty male SD rats were randomly divided into 8 groups of equal number: normal control, normal musk, normal olibanum, normal musk + olibanum, CP model control, CP model musk, CP model olibanum, and CP model musk + olibanum. At 60 days after modeling, the rats in the control, musk, olibanum, and musk + olibanum groups were treated intragastrically with normal saline, musk (0.021 g per kg body weight per day), olibanum (1.05 g per kg body weight per day), or musk + olibanum respectively, all for 3 days. Then, all the rats were sacrificed and their prostate tissues harvested for detection of the expressions of the tight junction proteins Claudin-1, Claudin-3, Occludin, and ZO-1 in the prostatic epithelial cells by immunohistochemical staining.

Results: In the CP models, only the expression of Claudin-1 was significantly increased. In the normal rats, the expression of Claudin-1 was remarkably upregulated after treated with musk (824.6 ± 393.3, P < 0.05), olibanum (982.0 ± 334.0, P < 0.05), and musk + olibanum (1088.1 ± 640.2, P < 0.01); that of Claudin-3 was elevated markedly by olibanum (1 009.5 ± 243.6, P < 0.05) and insignificantly by musk (597.5 ± 80.7), but the increasing effect of olibanum was reduced by musk + olibanum (678.4 ± 255.1). No statistically significant differences were found in the expression of Occludin among the rats treated with musk (693.0 ± 424.8), olibanum (732.1 ± 302.0), and musk + olibanum (560.2 ± 202.3), or in that of ZO-1 in the animals treated with musk (290.0 ± 166.8) and olibanum (419.7 ± 108.1), but the latter was markedly decreased in the musk + olibanum group (197.7 ± 98.2, P < 0.05). In the CP rat models, both the expressions of Claudin-1 (823.0 ± 100.1, P < 0.01) and Occludin (1160.0 ± 32.2, P < 0.05) were significantly increased. The expression of Claudin-1 was remarkably down-regulated by musk (764.9 ± 179.0), olibanum (468.4 ± 220.4), and musk + olibanum (335.1 ± 204.0) (all P < 0.05), but that of Claudin-3 up-regulated by musk (744.6 ± 94.5) and olibanum (700.1 ± 223.7) (both P < 0.05). The expression of Occludin was reduced by musk (615.0 ± 221.0), olibanum (749.6 ± 321.7), and musk + olibanum (505.8 ± 523.7), while that of ZO-1 increased by olibaum (443.2 ± 44.9) and decreased by musk + olibanum (213.5 ± 24.9, P < 0.05).

Conclusion: In physiological and pathological conditions, the combination of musk and olibanum acts on the expressions of tight junction proteins in prostate epithelial cells in a selective and dual-targeting manner, promoting their permeability by down-regulating the expression of ZO-1 and maintaining their structural stability by regulating the expressions of Claudin-1, Claudin-3, and Occludin.