摘要：As an attempt to find bioactive medicinal herbs exerting anti-asthmatic activity, the effects of an ethanol extract from the parts of Saururus chinensis were evaluated in both in vitro and in vivo . The ethanol extract of S. chinensis (ESC) inhibited generation of the cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) dependent phases of prostaglandin D2 in bone marrow-derived mast cells in a concentration-dependent manner with an IC50 value of 14.3 μg/ml. ESC also inhibited leukotriene C4 production with an IC50 value of 0.3 μg/ml. This demonstrates that ESC has COX-2/5-lipoxygenase dual inhibitory activity. In addition, this compound inhibited degranulation reaction in a dose dependent manner, with an IC50 value of 1.3 μg/ml. An ovalbumin induced mouse asthmatic animal model was used to determine its in vivo anti-asthmatic activity. The oral administration (50—200 mg/kg) of ESC reduced the number of infiltrated eosinophil in a bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. Furthermore, ESC (100 mg/kg) inhibited the eotaxin and IL-4 mRNA expression levels. These results suggest that the anti-asthmatic activity of S. chinensis might in part occur via the inhibition of eicosanoid generation, degranulation as well as the down regulation of IL-4 and eotaxin mRNA expression.
