Abstract: Objective To observe the changes of inflammation cytokines in pancreas tissues of experimental acute necrotizing pancreatitis (ANP) rats treated with rhubarb.Methods Thirty-three rats were randomly divided into sham operation group,ANP group and rhubarb treatment group with 11 rats in each group.ANP model was induced by retrograde injection of 3% sodium taurocholate into the biliopancreatic duct,and jejunostomy was performed.Rats in rhubarb treatment group were fed with 1 g/ml rhubarb at the dose of 1 ml/kg body weight via jejunum route.Thirty-six hours later the rats were sacrificed.The serum level of amylase was measured; part of the pancreatic tissue was harvested for routine pathologic examination; total RNA was extracted from pancreatic tissue.The expression of IL-6,IL-8,and TNF-α mRNA was measured by real-time PCR.Results After ANP induction,the serum level of amylase was significantly increased,and pancreatic tissue necrosis,bleeding and inflammatory cell infiltration were observed,which was consistent with changes of ANP.The expressions of IL-6,IL-8,and TNF-α mRNA were 0.29 ±0.13,0.35 ±0.15,1.09 ±0.32 in sham operation group,while they were 2.23 ±0.49,2.26 ±0.51,5.24 ±0.59 in ANP group,which were significantly higher than those in sham operation group ( P < 0.05 ).The corresponding values were 0.97 ±0.30,1.02 ±0.34,2.59 ±0.36 in rhubarb treatment group,which were significantly lower than those in ANP group,but they were still significantly higher than those in sham operation group ( P < 0.05 ).Conclusions Rhubarb lavage via jejunum route can decrease the expressions of IL-6,IL-8,and TNF-α,therefore attenuate the pancreatic pathologic injuries.