Anti-allergic activity of a platycodon root ethanol extract.

Platycodon grandiflorum (Campanulaceae) is used as traditional medicine in Asian countries. In Korean traditional medicine, Platycodon root has been widely used since ancient times as a traditional drug to treat cold, cough and asthma. However, its effects on bone marrow-derived mast cell (BMMC)-mediated allergy and inflammation mechanisms remain unknown. In this study, the biological effect of Platycodon root ethanol extract (PE) was evaluated in BMMC after induction of allergic mediators by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) plus calcium ionophore A23187 (A23187) stimulation. The effect of PE on the production of several allergic mediators, such as interleukin-6 (IL-6), prostaglandin D(2) (PGD(2)), leukotriene C(4) (LTC(4)), beta-Hexosaminidase (beta-Hex) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) protein, was investigated. The results demonstrate that PE inhibits PMA + A23187 induced production of IL-6, PGD(2), LTC(4), beta-Hexosaminidase and COX-2 protein. Taken together, these results indicate that PE has the potential for use in the treatment of allergy.