Inhibitory effects of inhaled complex traditional Chinese medicine on early and late asthmatic responses induced by ovalbumin in sensitized guinea pigs

BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Research Article

Ji-Liang Chen¹  Oi-Tong Mak²  Cheng-Chung Gong³  Hung-Chou Chang⁴ 

[1] Department of Life Sciences, National Cheng Kung University, 701, Tainan, Taiwan;Department of Life Sciences, National Cheng Kung University, 701, Tainan, Taiwan;Department of Healthcare Department, University of Kang Ning, 709, Tainan, Taiwan;Department of Life Sciences, National Cheng Kung University, 701, Tainan, Taiwan;Department of Medical Technology, Chung Hwa University of Medicine Technology, 717, Tainan, Taiwan;Department of Life Sciences, National Cheng Kung University, 701, Tainan, Taiwan;Office of the Principal, Tainan Tzu-Chi Senior High School, 708, Tainan, Taiwan;

关键词: asthma;    Chinese medicine;    guinea pig;    nebulization;    ovalbumin;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1472-6882-11-80

 received in 2011-03-21, accepted in 2011-09-24,  发布年份 2011

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundMany formulae of traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) have been used for antiasthma treatment dating back many centuries. There is evidence to suggest that TCMs are effective as a cure for this allergenic disease administered via gastric tubes in animal studies; however, their efficacy, safety and side effects as an asthmatic therapy are still unclear.MethodsIn this study, guinea pigs sensitized with ovalbumin (OVA) were used as an animal model for asthma challenge, and the sensitization of animals by bronchial reactivity to methacholine (Mch) and the IgE concentration in the serum after OVA challenge were estimated. Complex traditional Chinese herbs (CTCM) were administered to the animals by nebulization, and the leukocytes were evaluated from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF).ResultsThe results showed that inhalation of CTCM could abolish the increased lung resistance (13-fold increase) induced by challenge with OVA in the early asthmatic response (EAR), reducing to as low as baseline (1-fold). Moreover, our results indicated higher IgE levels (range, 78-83 ng/ml) in the serum of sensitized guinea pigs than in the unsensitized controls (0.9 ± 0.256 ng/ml). In addition, increased total leukocytes and higher levels of eosinophils and neutrophils were seen 6 hours after challenge, and the increased inflammatory cells were reduced by treatment with CTCM inhalation. The interleukin-5 (IL-5) level in BALF was also reduced by CTCM.ConclusionOur findings indicate a novel method of administering traditional Chinese medicines for asthma treatment in an animal model that may be more effective than traditional methods.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© Chang et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2011. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.