Influence of Three Kinds of Traditional Chinese Therapies on Airway Remodeling in Asthmatic Rats
不同中医治法对哮喘大鼠气道重建的影响

This paper was aimed to observe protective effects of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) varying in therapeutic methods on airway remodeling in bronchial asthma. Three TCM decoctions, representing body resistance-strengthening therapy, lung-diffusing therapy, and combination therapy were prepared respectively and administrated peroral to asthmatic rats induced by ovalbumin. Eosinophils (EOS) were counted in bronchial veolarlavage fluid (BALF), and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP-9) and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP)-1 levels in serum were detected by ELISA. The results showed that compared with the control group, administration of TCM recipes is significantly effective in reducing EOS infiltration into BALF, as well as drop in MMP-1 level whereas rise in TIMP-1 level. It was concluded that three TCM therapies exerted similar protective effects against bronchial asthma. The improvement in airway remodeling can be attributed in part to inhibiting infiltration of EOS, down-regulating MMP-9 expression and up-regulating TIMP-1 expression.