Abstract
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is caused by exposure to toxic particles, such as coal fly ash (CFA), diesel-exhaust particle (DEP), and cigarette smoke (CS), leading to chronic bronchitis, mucus production, and a subsequent lung dysfunction. This study, using a mouse model of COPD, aimed to evaluate the effect of herbal combinational medication of Glycyrrhiza glabra (GG), Agastache rugosa (AR) containing glycyrrhizic acid (GA), and tilianin (TN) as active ingredients. GA, a major active component of GG, possesses a range of pharmacological and biological activities including anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, anti-oxidative. TN is a major flavonoid that is present in AR. It has been reported to have anti-inflammatory effects of potential utility as an anti-COPD agent. The COPD in the mice model was induced by a challenge with CFA and DEP. BALB/c mice received CFA and DEP alternately three times for 2 weeks to induce COPD. The herbal mixture of GG, AR, and TN significantly decreased the number of neutrophils in the lungs and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid. It also significantly reduced the production of C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 2 (CXCL-2), IL-17A, CXCL-1, TNF-α, symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA) in BALF and CXCL-2, IL-17A, CXCL-1, MUC5AC, transient receptor potential vanilloid-1 (TRPV1), IL-6, COX-2, NOS-II, and TNF-α mRNA expression in the lung tissue. Notably, a combination of GG and AR was more effective at regulating such therapeutic targets than GG or AR alone. The histolopathological lung injury was alleviated by treatment with the herbal mixture and their active ingredients (especially TN). In this study, the herbal combinational mixture more effectively inhibited neutrophilic airway inflammation by regulating the expression of inflammatory cytokines and CXCL-2 by blocking the IL-17/STAT3 pathway. Therefore, a herbal mixture of GG and AR may be a potential therapeutic agent to treat COPD.
Highlights
Radix Glycyrrhizae (Liquorice), one of the most-commonly used traditional medicines in many countries is the root of Glycyrrhiza glabra L. (GG), or Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch. or Glycyrrhiza inflata Bat. [1]
We examined whether a combination of GG and Agastache rugosa (AR) natural herbs might be more effective in regulating neutrophil infiltration and CXCL-2, IL-17/STAT3 expression through a synergistic effect
The major components of coal fly ash (CFA) are silica, ferrous oxide, aluminum oxide, calcium oxide, magnesium oxide, and carbon in varying amounts as measured by a loss on ignition (LOI) test [18]. It can be seen from the summary data in Figure 1B that CFA contains a variety of metal oxides in the order SiO2 > Al2O3 > Fe2O3 > MgO > K2O > TiO2 > CaO
Summary
Radix Glycyrrhizae (Liquorice), one of the most-commonly used traditional medicines in many countries is the root of Glycyrrhiza glabra L. (GG), or Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch. or Glycyrrhiza inflata Bat. [1]. Glycyrrhizic acid (GA) and flavonoids, the major components of the GG, have been used extensively as complementary or alternative medicines in asthma because of their several pharmacological effects including anti-asthmatic [3], anti-allergic [4], anti-inflammatory, and anti-oxidative activities [5]. Previous reports showed that chemical ingredients of Agastache rugosa (AR) contained mainly essential oils, flavonoids, and other constituents [6,7], and possess anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory activities [8]. Tilianin (TN) is a major constituent of AR and has been found to exhibit a number of pharmacologic effects such as anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities [9,10] and could serve as a new potential anti-COPD agent. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major chronic lung disease characterized by lung inflammation and pathological changes including bronchitis, small airway remodeling, mucus production, and progressive and persistent lung dysfunction [11]
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