Antiasthmatic Effects on Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi Extracts Against Airway Inflammation and Hyperresponsiveness Induced by Diesel Exhaust Particles with Ovalbumin Sensitization

Abstract

: The feature of asthma are airway inflammation (AI), reversible airway obstruction, and an increased sensitivity to bronchoconstricting agents, elevated airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR), excess production of Th2 cytokines, and eosinophil accumulation in the lungs. This study was performed to investigate if oral administration of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi water extracts (SBG) have the antiasthmatic potential for the treatment of asthma. Asthmatic HI and AHR were induced by systemic sensitization to ovalbumin (OVA) with intratracheal instillation with 0.1 ㎎/mL of diesel exhaust particles (DEP) suspension once a week for 10 weeks in BALB/c mice. SBG was orally administered with the concentraion of 200 ㎎/㎏ 5 days a week for 10 weeks. Long-term SBG treatment suppressed the eosinophil infiltration into airways from blood, the asthmatic AI and AHR by attenuating the production of cytokine IL-4, IL-5 and IL-13, histamine and OVA-specific IgE. Our data suggest that SBG has inhibitory effects on AI and AHR in a mouse model of asthma, may act as a potential Th2 cytokine antagonist, and may have a therapeutic effect on allergic asthma.