Pulvis Fellis Suis extract attenuates ovalbumin-induced airway inflammation in murine model of asthma.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Pulvis Fellis Suis (PFS), named with "Zhu Danfen" in China, has been extensively used for the therapy of enteritis, acute pharyngitis, whooping cough and asthma in folk medicine. Although PFS shows anti-inflammatory activities, its effect on airway inflammation in asthma has not been studied.

Aim Of The Study: To explore the protective effect of PFS ethanol extract against airway inflammation in asthmatic mice.

Materials And Methods: Allergic asthma in mice was sensitized and challenged by OVA. Mice were administered in oral with PFS daily at doses of 100, 200 and 400mg/kg on days 21-27. Inflammatory cell counts and classification in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were analyzed. Histopathological evaluation of the lung tissue was performed by hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and periodic acid-schiff (PAS) staining. The IgE level in serum was measured by using enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA). ELISA was also used to detect the levels of Th1/Th2 cytokine and eotaxin in BALF.

Results: Histological results revealed that PFS could ameliorate OVA-induced histological changes by attenuating inflammatory cell infiltration, mucus hypersecretion and goblet cell hyperplasia in the lung. Treatment with different doses of PFS significantly decreased the elevated inflammatory cell numbers in BALF and IgE production in serum. PFS treatment reduced the production of Th2 cytokine IL-4, IL-5, IL-13, and promoted Th1 cytokine IFN-γ production in BALF. In addition, PFS also decreased the levels of eotaxin and TNF-α in BALF.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that PFS has a markedly anti-inflammatory effect on OVA-induced allergic asthma in mice, and could be a promising protective agent recommended for allergic asthma patients.