The new therapeutic herbal drug HM0601 and its bioactive compound rutin exert potent antiproliferative activities in mast cells.

HM0601 consists of Allium hookeri and Lycium chinense fruit and contains a lot of rutin. Here, we ascertained whether HM0601 and its major compound rutin reduce proliferation of human mast cell line, HMC-1, under thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) stimulation. Therapeutic rutin or HM0601 treatment considerably reduced proliferation of mast cells without exposing activated HMC-1 cells to any cytotoxicity. Reduced levels of mouse double minute 2 and phosphorylated signal transducers and activators of transcription 6 were accompanied by treatment with rutin or HM0601. In TSLP-stimulated cells, rutin or HM0601 treatment significantly impaired levels of interleukin (IL)-13 and Bcl2 expression. Notably, rutin or HM0601 treatment returned Bax and phosphorylated p53 protein levels and caspase-3 activities impaired by TSLP. In addition, levels of inflammatory cytokine were considerably reduced by treatment with rutin or HM0601 on TSLP-stimulated cells. In conclusion, these results indicate that HM0601 can be used as a new therapeutic herbal drug for prevention and therapeutic intervention of allergic inflammatory diseases.