Abstract. Sargassum hemiphyllum (SH) has long been used in Korean folk medicine for the therapeutic treatment of various allergic diseases. The effects of SH in previous experimental models, however, have been inconclusive. We studied the effects of methanol extract of SH on mast cells. Our experiments showed that SH significantly inhibited compound 48 / 80-induced histamine and b-hexosaminidase release from rat peritoneal mast cells. SH inhibited interleukin (IL)-8 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-a release induced by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate and A23187 from HMC-1, and it also showed an inhibitory effect on the anti-dinitrophenyl IgE antibody-induced passive cutaneous anaphylaxis reaction. In addition, SH inhibited the increase of TNF-a -induced NF-kB protein levels, transcription factor of TNF-a from 293T cells. A period of 48 h exposure to SH had little effect on HMC-1 cell viability. Our results suggest that SH has an inhibitory effect on the atopic allergic reaction and thus this may be useful in the treatment of allergic inflammatory diseases, such as atopic dermatitis.

These results suggest the potential of Dokhwaljihwang-tang as a source of pharmaceutical acupuncture for neuronal inflammatory diseases.