Comparative research of the curative effects of pinelliae rhizoma and pinelliae rhizoma praeparatum cum alumine on ovalbumin-induced allergic asthma in rats

Aim: This study was designed to compare the curative effects of Pinelliae Rhizoma (RPT) and Pinelliae Rhizoma Praeparatum cum Alumine (QPT) on ovalbumin (OVA)-induced allergic asthma in rats. Materials and Methods: Asthmatic rats were prepared by intraperitoneal injection and inhalation of OVA, and RPT and QPT at the doses of 120 and 240 mg/kg/day were administered orally for consecutive 7 days. Then, histopathological changes of the lung tissues were examined; levels of interleukin (IL)-4 and interferon (IFN)-γ in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluids (BALFs) and immunoglobulin (Ig) E in the serum were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; eosinophils (EOS) in BALFs were also determined. Furthermore, the expressions of mucin 5AC (MUC5AC) and AQP-5 in the lung tissues were determined by quantitative real-time fluorogenic polymerase chain reaction and western blot assays. Besides, high-performance liquid chromatography-LTQ-Orbitrap-Elite-MS analysis was applied to compare the constituent's difference between the RPT and QPT. Results: The present results revealed that both the RPT and QPT have the potential curative effects for treating OVA-induced asthma in rats via inhibiting inflammatory reactions (suppressing EOS influx, IgE secretion, and release of IL-4 whereas increasing the release of IFN-γ) and modulating the mRNA and protein expressions of MUC5AC and AQP-5. In addition, our results also evidenced that QPT exhibited a better curative effect on allergic asthmatic rats compared to RPT. Conclusion: Our results are beneficial for confirming the traditional Chinese medicinal theory of “QPT is good at removing dampness to reduce phlegm.”