Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Key Laboratory of Basic and Applied Research in North Medicine, Ministry of Education, Heilongjiang Key Laboratory of Drug Efficacy Study Material of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Natural Product, Harbin, 150040, China.
Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, 510224, China.
Int J Biol Macromol. 2018 Jan;106:947-954. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2017.08.096. Epub 2017 Aug 19.
Mahuang, a famous traditional Chinese medicine, is widely used for the treatment of common cold and inflammatory diseases in China. We investigated the protective effects of polysaccharide from Ephedra sinica Stapf (ESP-B4) against airway and pulmonary inflammation. Animal model was made in SD rats via intratracheal instillation of Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) on day1 and 14 and inhalation of Cigarette Smoke (CS) for 4 weeks. ESP-B4 was administered by oral gavage for 2 weeks. We studied the number of inflammatory cells in serum, production of TNF-α, IL-6, IL-8 and MMP-9 in lung homogenization buffer, and the expression of TGF-β1, P-Smad2 and P-Smad3 in lung tissue. In vitro, model was made in A549 cells with LPS and cigarette smoke extract. We investigated the levels of TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-8, and the expression of TGF-β1, P-Smad2, P-Smad3 and Smad7. Our results revealed that ESP-B4 lowered the recruitment of inflammatory cells; and decreased the production of TNF-α, IL-6, IL-8 and MMP-9, significantly reduced the expression of TGF-β1, P-Smad2 and P-Smad3, increased the expression of Smad7. These results indicated that ESP-B4 reduced airway and pulmonary inflammation by regulating inflammatory cytokines and the TGF-β1/Smad2 pathway, thus providing a potential treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD).
麻黄，一种著名的中药，在中国被广泛用于治疗普通感冒和炎症性疾病。我们研究了来自麻黄（ESP-B4）的多糖对气道和肺部炎症的保护作用。通过在第 1 天和第 14 天向 SD 大鼠气管内滴注脂多糖（LPS）并吸入香烟烟雾（CS）4 周来建立动物模型。ESP-B4 通过口服灌胃给药 2 周。我们研究了血清中炎症细胞的数量、肺匀浆缓冲液中 TNF-α、IL-6、IL-8 和 MMP-9 的产生以及肺组织中 TGF-β1、P-Smad2 和 P-Smad3 的表达。在体外，用 LPS 和香烟烟雾提取物在 A549 细胞中建立模型。我们研究了 TNF-α、IL-6 和 IL-8 的水平以及 TGF-β1、P-Smad2、P-Smad3 和 Smad7 的表达。我们的结果表明，ESP-B4 降低了炎症细胞的募集；并减少了 TNF-α、IL-6、IL-8 和 MMP-9 的产生，显著降低了 TGF-β1、P-Smad2 和 P-Smad3 的表达，增加了 Smad7 的表达。这些结果表明，ESP-B4 通过调节炎症细胞因子和 TGF-β1/Smad2 途径减轻气道和肺部炎症，从而为慢性阻塞性肺疾病（COPD）提供了一种潜在的治疗方法。
