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Immunoregulatory Effects of Paeoniflorin Exerts Anti-asthmatic Effects via Modulation of the Th1/Th2 Equilibrium

Inflammation volume 38, pages 2017–2025 (2015)Cite this article

Abstract

Paeoniflorin has been demonstrated to exert anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects in the animal study. In this study, we investigated immunoregulatory effects of paeoniflorin on anti-asthmatic effects and underlying mechanisms. Asthma model was established by ovalbumin-induced. A total of 50 mice were randomly assigned to five experimental groups: control, model, dexamethasone (2 mg/kg), and paeoniflorin (10 and 20 mg/kg). Airway resistance (Raw) were measured by the forced oscillation technique; histological studies were evaluated by the hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining; Th1/Th2 cytokines were evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA); Th1/Th2 cells were evaluated by flow cytometry (FCM); and GATA3 and T-bet were evaluated by Western blot. Our study demonstrated that, compared with model group, paeoniflorin inhibited ovalbumin (OVA)-induced increases in Raw and eosinophil count; interleukin (IL)-4, IgE levels were recovered in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid compared; increased IFN-γ level in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid; histological studies demonstrated that paeoniflorin substantially inhibited OVA-induced eosinophilia in lung tissue and lung tissue compared with model group. Flow cytometry studies demonstrated that paeoniflorin can regulate Th1/Th2 balance. These findings suggest that paeoniflorin may effectively ameliorate the progression of asthma and could be used as a therapy for patients with allergic asthma.

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The authors declare that they have no competing of interest.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, Changhcun, 130117, China

      Tianzhu Zhang & Shumin Wang

    2. Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China

      Zhaocong Yang

    3. Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, 130118, China

      Shihai Yang

    4. School of Life Science, Peking University, Beijing, China, 100871

      Juan Du

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    1. Tianzhu Zhang
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    2. Zhaocong Yang
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    3. Shihai Yang
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    Correspondence to Shumin Wang.

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    Tianzhu Zhang and Zhaocong Yang contributed equally to this work.

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    Zhang, T., Yang, Z., Yang, S. et al. Immunoregulatory Effects of Paeoniflorin Exerts Anti-asthmatic Effects via Modulation of the Th1/Th2 Equilibrium. Inflammation 38, 2017–2025 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10753-015-0182-5

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    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10753-015-0182-5

    KEY WORDS

    • paeoniflorin
    • anti-asthmatic
    • Th1/Th2
    • GATA3/T-bet