Abstract
BackgroundAsthma is one of the main intractable diseases recognized by the international medical community. The current widely used bronchodilators for asthma—β2-adrenal receptor agonists—have limited therapeutic effects, necessitating the development of novel antiasthma drugs with increased efficacy and fewer adverse effects. In this study, we investigated the relaxant effects and underlying mechanism of an ethyl acetate extract from dandelion (EAED) on mouse airway smooth muscle.MethodsThe effects of EAED on agonist-induced precontraction in mouse airway smooth muscle were evaluated with force measurement. Mouse lung slices were used to study the effects of EAED on bronchial smooth muscle. The intracellular Ca2+ concentration was measured using a calcium imaging system. L-type voltage-dependent calcium channel (VDLCC) and non-selective cationic channel (NSCC) currents were measured by patch-clamp. The lung functions of healthy and asthmatic mouse groups were assessed via the forced oscillation technique.ResultsEAED inhibits acetylcholine-induced sustained contractions of whole airway smooth muscle by inhibiting VDLCCs, NSCCs, and some unknown channels, reduces the agonist-induced increase in the cytosolic free Ca2+ concentration in airway smooth muscle cells, blocks VDLCC and NSCC currents, and relieves the respiratory resistance of healthy and asthmatic mice.ConclusionsEAED may have potential beneficial effects on mitigating asthma attacks.
Highlights
Asthma is one of the main intractable diseases recognized by the international medical community
ethyl acetate extract from dandelion (EAED) inhibits tracheal ring contraction We first studied the effects of EAED on tracheal ring (TR) contraction
TRs were precontracted with 80 mM KCl and EAED was added when the contraction reached a plateau
Summary
Asthma is one of the main intractable diseases recognized by the international medical community. The first-line treatment for asthma is still a combination of β2 adrenergic receptor agonists and glucocorticoids This therapeutic strategy can have severe adverse effects, such as headache, tremors, palpitations, and heart failure [5,6,7]. Its main chemical components are taraxasterol, choline, organic acid, inulin, and other healthy nutrients [8] It is recognized as a nutritious wild vegetable. In terms of the alleviation of airway inflammation, a distinctive feature of asthma, it has been reported that the organic acid components of TMHM can improve lipopolysaccharide-induced histopathological damage to tracheal tissues [21] and reduce lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammation in normal human bronchial epithelial cells [22], which could be beneficial for the treatment of acute tracheobronchitis. No studies have examined whether a specific component from dandelion has the potential to inhibit mouse ASM contraction
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