Malaysian Palm Oil Board, Bandar Baru Bangi, Selangor 43000, Malaysia.
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia.
Int J Mol Sci. 2019 Apr 10;20(7):1764. doi: 10.3390/ijms20071764.
Synthetic therapeutic drugs for asthma, a chronic airway inflammation characterised by strong eosinophil, mast cell, and lymphocyte infiltration, mucus hyper-production, and airway hyper-responsiveness, exhibit numerous side effects. Alternatively, the high antioxidant potential of palm oil phytonutrients, including vitamin E (tocotrienol-rich fractions; TRF) and carotene, may be beneficial for alleviating asthma. Here, we determined the therapeutic efficacy of TRF, carotene, and dexamethasone in ovalbumin-challenged allergic asthma in Brown Norway rats. Asthmatic symptoms fully developed within 8 days after the second sensitization, and were preserved throughout the time course via intranasal ovalbumin re-challenge. Asthmatic rats were then orally administered 30 mg/kg body weight TRF or carotene. TRF-treated animals exhibited reduced inflammatory cells in bronchial alveolar lavage fluid. TRF- and carotene-treated rats exhibited notable white blood cell reduction comparable to that from dexamethasone. TRF- and carotene-treatment also downregulated pro-inflammatory markers (IL-β, IL-6, TNF-α), coincident with anti-inflammatory marker IL-4 and IL-13 upregulation. Treatment significantly reduced asthmatic rat plasma CRP and IgE, signifying improved systemic inflammation. Asthmatic lung histology displayed severe edema and inflammatory cell infiltration in the bronchial wall, whereas treated animals retained healthy, normal-appearing lungs. The phytonutrients tocotrienol and carotene thus exhibit potential benefits for consumption as nutritional adjuncts in asthmatic disease.
用于哮喘的合成治疗药物，一种以强烈的嗜酸性粒细胞、肥大细胞和淋巴细胞浸润、黏液过度产生和气道高反应性为特征的慢性气道炎症，表现出许多副作用。另一方面，棕榈油植物营养素的高抗氧化潜力，包括维生素 E（富含生育三烯酚的部分；TRF）和类胡萝卜素，可能有助于缓解哮喘。在这里，我们确定了 TRF、类胡萝卜素和地塞米松在卵清蛋白挑战的布朗挪威大鼠变应性哮喘中的治疗功效。哮喘症状在第二次致敏后 8 天内完全发展，并通过鼻内卵清蛋白再挑战在整个过程中得到保留。然后，哮喘大鼠口服给予 30mg/kg 体重的 TRF 或类胡萝卜素。TRF 治疗的动物支气管肺泡灌洗液中的炎症细胞减少。TRF 和类胡萝卜素治疗的大鼠表现出明显的白细胞减少，与地塞米松相当。TRF 和类胡萝卜素治疗还下调了促炎标志物（IL-β、IL-6、TNF-α），同时上调了抗炎标志物 IL-4 和 IL-13。治疗显著降低了哮喘大鼠血浆 CRP 和 IgE，表明全身性炎症得到改善。哮喘肺组织学显示支气管壁严重水肿和炎症细胞浸润，而治疗动物保留了健康、正常的肺部外观。因此，植物营养素生育三烯酚和类胡萝卜素具有作为哮喘病营养辅助剂消费的潜在益处。
