| Background: Zhikepingchuan Decoction For Children is an improved prescription of Mahuangxingrenshigaogancao Decoction, which was reported to be effective in the treatment of asthma and cough by oral and external use among the people. A great deal of clinical trials had reported that traditional Chinese medicines had bronchodilatory effects, by reducing airway inflammation and restraining the reaction of asthma, but the experimental studies are few.Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airway characterized by cellular infiltration and activation. Eosinophils(EOS) is one of the most important factor in the mechanism of asthma, and can cause epithelial cell exfoliation and hyperresponsiveness in airway ,as well as overexpression of adhesion molecules, such as intercellular adhesion molecule 1, which plays critical roles in the courses of leukocytes differentiation, proliferation, adhesion and migration to the airway and activation. By far, whether the bronchodilatory effect of Zhikepingchuan Decoction For Children is associated with reducing the number of EOS in airway, suppressing the overexpression of sICAM-1 still remains unknown.Objective: To evaluate bronchodilation effect of Zhikepingchuan Decoction For Children and its effect on blood sICAM-1 level.Methods:1 Bronchodilatory effect was investigated with bronchospasm induced by histamine aerosol in guinea pigs.2 Antitussive effect was studied with citric acid-induced cough in guinea pigs.3 Expectorant effect was studied with excretion of phenol red in the airway of mice.4 Forty guinea pigs were at random divided into four groups: control, model, α-asarone, Zhikepingchuan Decoction For Children , with 10 guinea pigs in each group. Experimental animals were sensitized and challenged by OVA to establish an asthmatic guinea pig model. The numbers of leukocytes and eosinophils (EOS ) in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid(BALF)were detected, and the levels of plasma sICAM-1 in four groups were determined respectively by enzyme-linked immunosorbentassay (ELISA).Results:1 Experiment of histamine-induced bronchospasm in guinea pigs : Incubation time for histamine-induced bronchospasm in the group of Zhikepingchuan Decoction For Children was 80.40 ± 17.53 seconds,which was obviously longer than that in the control group(53.20 ±9.35 seconds). Zhikepingchuan Decoction For Children protected guinea pigs from histamine-induced bronchospasm (p<0.01).2 Experiment of citric acid-induced cough in guinea pigs : Incubation time for citric acid-induced cough in the group of Zhikepingchuan Decoction For Children was 45.60±9.41 seconds,while it was 40.40 ± 6.75 seconds in the group of α-asarone, either of them was longer than that in the control group( 17.90 ± 6.17 seconds). Zhikepingchuan Decoction For Children or α-asarone protected guinea pigs from citric acid-induced cough (p<0.01).3 Experiment of excretion of phenol red in the airway of mice: The excretion of phenol red in the group of Zhikepingchuan Decoction For Children reached 152.88 ± 56.98ng/ml, and it was 199.25 ±60.17ng/ml in the group of α-asarone , either of them was more than that in the control group(72.13 ± 27.19ng/ml). Zhikepingchuan Decoction For Children or α-asarone increased the excretion of phenol red in the airway of mice(p<0.01).4 The number of eosinophils(EOS) in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid in guinea pigs :The number of EOS in BALF in the model group[(2.90 ± 0.88)*10~6/ml] was higher than it in the control group[ (1.10±0.74)*10~6 /ml ](p<0.01); It was (1.00 ± 0.82)*10~6 /ml in the group of Zhikepingchuan Decoction For Children, and (1.50±0.53)*10~6/ml in the group of α-asarone, either of them was lowerer than that in the model group. Zhikepingchuan Decoction For Children or α-asarone reduced the number of EOS in BALF in the asthmatic guinea pigs (p<0.01).5 The level of plasma sICAM-1 in guinea pigs : The level of plasma sICAM-1 in the control group(23.40±5.56ng/ml) was lowest in the four groups, while the level in the model group(159.90 ±40.07ng/ml) was the highest, with significant difference between the two groups (p<0.01); The level in the group of Zhikepingchuan Decoction For Children was 61.80 ± 7.76ng/ml and in the group of α-asarone was 76.30 ± 10.76ng/ml,either of them was lowerer than that in the model group. Zhikepingchuan Decoction For Children or α-asarone lowered the levels of plasma sICAM-1 in the asthmatic guinea pigs (p<0.01). Conclusions: These results indicate that Zhikepingchuan Decoction For Children has some pharmacological effects of bronchodilatation, antitussive and expectorant. The mechanism of this bronchodilatory effect might be associated with reducing the number of EOS in airway and /or declining plasma sICAM-1 level.
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