Objective      To study the effects of the total ethanol extract and separated chemical fractions of Smilax China on hematological and pathomorphological alterations in rats with chronic pelvic inflammation disease (CPID)

and to identify the active sites of Smilax China for treating CPID.       Methods      One hundred and sixty female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 16 groups. Rat CPID model were constructed by intrauterine injection of phenol mucilage. Each of the four chemical fractions of Smilax China was administered to the model rats by gavage

with three different doses (32.4

16.2 and 8.1 g/kg) for 10 consecutive days

once per day. Jingangteng capsule was administered in a dose of 16.2 g/kg as a positive control group. The rats of model control group

control group and sham-operated group were administered with the same amount of distilled water. Twenty-four hours after the last drug administration

the rats were killed and blood was collected from the abdominal aorta for hematological analysis

while the two uteri were removed for pathomorphological analysis.       Results      Compared with the model control group

the ethyl acetate fraction of Smilax significantly ameliorated the inflammatory response in uterus at its high and middle dose (

P

0.01). Pathological analysis indicated that the uterus swelling extent decreased in Smilax China ethyl acetate fraction group. The anti-inflammation effect of Smilax China ethyl acetate fraction was equal to that of the total Smilax China ethanol extract

and was much better than that of Smilax China n-butanol fraction group and water fraction group.       Conclusion      The ethyl acetate fraction of Smilax China is the main active fraction against CPID.