Chen Wei, Meng Qing-Fang, Sui Jun-Kang, Wang Yan-Jun, Li Xiao-Li, Liu Shen, Li Heng, Wang Cong-Cong, Li Chun-Hong, Li Yan-Bin
Institute of Neuroscience, Key Laboratory of Primate Neurobiology, CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China.
Department of Neurology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Shandong University of Chinese, Jinan, Shandong 250014, China.
Int Immunopharmacol. 2016 Dec;41:136-143. doi: 10.1016/j.intimp.2016.08.028. Epub 2016 Sep 3.
Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune neuromuscular disease characterized by fatigue and muscle weakness. Ginseng is used in the treatment of MG. Ginsenoside Rb1 (G-Rb1), the most abundant ginsenoside in ginseng root, has been proved to be immune regulatory in various diseases. In this study, we investigated the effects and mechanisms of G-Rb1 in treatment for MG in a rat model. Our data showed that G-Rb1 treatment markedly ameliorated the symptoms of experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis (EAMG) rats, decreased the percentage of Th17 cells in mononuclear cells (MNCs), and increased the number of Treg and Th2 cells in MNCs. We also found that G-Rb1 treatment decreased the serum level of anti-R97-116 peptides IgG1 and IgG2a antibodies. Our findings provide strong evidence that G-Rb1 treatment has immune regulatory effects in EAMG rats, which indicate that G-Rb1 may be employed as a therapeutic medication for MG.
重症肌无力（MG）是一种以疲劳和肌肉无力为特征的自身免疫性神经肌肉疾病。人参被用于治疗MG。人参皂苷Rb1（G-Rb1）是人参根中含量最丰富的人参皂苷，已被证明在多种疾病中具有免疫调节作用。在本研究中，我们在大鼠模型中研究了G-Rb1治疗MG的效果和机制。我们的数据表明，G-Rb1治疗显著改善了实验性自身免疫性重症肌无力（EAMG）大鼠的症状，降低了单核细胞（MNCs）中Th17细胞的百分比，并增加了MNCs中Treg和Th2细胞的数量。我们还发现，G-Rb1治疗降低了血清中抗R97-116肽IgG1和IgG2a抗体的水平。我们的研究结果提供了有力证据，表明G-Rb1治疗对EAMG大鼠具有免疫调节作用，这表明G-Rb1可能用作MG的治疗药物。
