Abstract: OBJECTIVE: To investigate the mechanism of Ping-wei capsules(PWC) in improving gastrointestinal m otility in rats with functional dyspepsia(FD).METHODS: We established an FD model by stimu-lating semi-starvation rats via tail damping, provo-cation, and forced exercise fatigue. The FD model group was further divided into five groups accord-ing to the treatment received: normal saline, dom-peridone, low-dose PWC, mid-dose PWC, or highdose PWC. The effect of PWC on FD was evaluated by measuring gastrointestinal motility. Changes in leptin and cholecystokinin(CCK) were detected through enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, re-verse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, and immunohistochemistry.RESULTS: PWC significantly increased gastrointesti-nal m otility in FD rats. Furthermore, PWC signifi-cantly increased CCK m RNA and protein concentra-tions in the duodenum and antrum, decreased leptin protein concentrations in the duodenum, an-trum, and hypothalamus, and decreased CCK pro-tein concentration in the hypothalamus.CONCLUSION: PWC improves gastrointestinal mo-tor function in FD rats by decreasing the leptin con-centration in serum and the brain-gut axis, and by increasing the CCK concentration in gastrointesti-nal tissue. Our findings help to elucidate the mech-anism of FD and provide further insight into the pharmacokinetics of PWC.

Key words: Pingwei capsule, Dyspepsia, Gastroin- testinal m otility, Brain-gut peptide, Brain-gut axis