Wei Ying, Dong Ming, Zhang Hongying, Lv Yubao, Liu Jiaqi, Wei Kai, Luo Qingli, Sun Jing, Liu Feng, Xu Fei, Dong Jingcheng
Department of Integrative Medicine, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, 12 Middle Urumqi Road, Shanghai 200040, China ; Institute of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Fudan University, 12 Middle Urumqi Road, Shanghai 200040, China.
Gumei Community Health Center, 668 Longming Road, Shanghai 201102, China.
Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2015;2015:340126. doi: 10.1155/2015/340126. Epub 2015 Nov 3.
Acupuncture is an effective therapeutic method in asthma treatment in traditional Chinese medicine. Here, we evaluated the effect of acupuncture on airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) and the associated inflammatory changes as well as Th17 and Treg activity in ovalbumin- (OVA-) induced experimental asthma. Our results revealed that acupuncture treatment significantly inhibited AHR, lung inflammation, and mucus secretion of experimental asthma mice. Furthermore, a decrease in lymphocytes and eosinophils as well as neutrophils was observed in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of mice treated with acupuncture. Acupuncture reduced the OVA specific IgE level as well as the Th17 cytokine levels including IL-17A, IL-17F, and IL-22 in the serum of the experimental asthma mice. Acupuncture treatment group also had reduced CD4+IL-17A+ cell numbers and increased CD4+Foxp3+ cell numbers in BALF. In addition, acupuncture could inhibit IL-17R, RORγt, p65, and the inhibitor of NF-κB kinase-α (IKKα) protein expression. Our results indicated that acupuncture was effective in inhibiting AHR and inflammation in OVA-induced experimental asthma, which may be associated with the regulation of Th17 and Treg activity and NF-κB pathway.
针灸是中医治疗哮喘的一种有效疗法。在此,我们评估了针灸对卵清蛋白(OVA)诱导的实验性哮喘气道高反应性(AHR)、相关炎症变化以及Th17和调节性T细胞(Treg)活性的影响。我们的结果显示,针灸治疗显著抑制了实验性哮喘小鼠的AHR、肺部炎症和黏液分泌。此外,在接受针灸治疗的小鼠支气管肺泡灌洗液(BALF)中观察到淋巴细胞、嗜酸性粒细胞以及中性粒细胞数量减少。针灸降低了实验性哮喘小鼠血清中OVA特异性IgE水平以及包括白细胞介素-17A(IL-17A)、白细胞介素-17F(IL-17F)和白细胞介素-22(IL-22)在内的Th17细胞因子水平。针灸治疗组的BALF中CD4+IL-17A+细胞数量也减少,而CD4+Foxp3+细胞数量增加。此外,针灸可抑制IL-17R、维甲酸相关孤儿受体γt(RORγt)、p65以及核因子κB激酶-α(IKKα)蛋白表达。我们的结果表明,针灸在抑制OVA诱导的实验性哮喘的AHR和炎症方面有效,这可能与Th17和Treg活性及核因子κB通路的调节有关。