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Immune homeostasis: effects of Chinese herbal formulae and herb-derived compounds on allergic asthma in different experimental models

Liu, Lu and Wang, LinPeng and He, Shan and Ma, Yan

Chinese Journal of Integrative Medicine (2018) 24: 390–398

DOI: 10.1007/s11655-018-2836-2

Abstract

Allergic asthma is thought to arise from an imbalance of immune regulation, which is characterized by the production of large quantities of IgE antibodies by B cells and a decrease of the interferon-P/interleukin-4 (Th1/Th2) ratio. Certain immunomodulatory components and Chinese herbal formulae have been used in traditional herbal medicine for thousands of years. However, there are few studies performing evidence-based Chinese medicine (CM) research on the mechanisms and efficacy of these drugs in allergic asthma. This review aims to explore the roles of Chinese herbal formulae and herb-derived compounds in experimental research models of allergic asthma. We screened published modern CM research results on the experimental effects of Chinese herbal formulae and herb-derived bioactive compounds for allergic asthma and their possible underlying mechanisms in English language articles from the PubMed and the Google Scholar databases with the keywords allergic asthma, experimental model and Chinese herbal medicine. We found 22 Chinese herb species and 31 herb-derived anti-asthmatic compounds as well as 12 Chinese herbal formulae which showed a reduction of airway hyperresponsiveness, allergen-specific immunoglobulin E, inflammatory cell infiltration and a regulation of Th1 and Th2 cytokines in vivo, in vitro and ex vivo, respectively. Chinese herbal formulae and herb-derived bioactive compounds exhibit immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory and anti-asthma activities in different experimental models and their various mechanisms of action are being investigated in modern CM research with genomics, proteomics and metabolomics technologies, which will lead to a new era in the development of new drug discovery for allergic asthma in CM.

Citation

Liu, L., Wang, L. P., He, S., & Ma, Y. (2018). Immune homeostasis: effects of Chinese herbal formulae and herb-derived compounds on allergic asthma in different experimental models. Chinese Journal of Integrative Medicine, 24(5), 390–398. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-018-2836-2 animal models, antiinflammatory properties, lung diseases, respiratory diseases, Animal and in vitro Models for Pharmaceuticals [VV450], Animal Models of Human Diseases [VV400], Non-food/Non-feed Plant Products [SS200], anti-inflammatory properties, asthma, herbal drugs, herbal medicines, IgE, reagin, reaginic antibodies, Human Immunology and Allergology [VV055], allergies, traditional Chinese medicines

Keywords