[Effect of acupoint application therapy on expression of IL-4 and IFN-gamma in lung tissue of asthma rats].
Keywords
Abstract
OBJECTIVE
To observe the effect of acupoint application of Chinese herbal medicines on pathological changes of pulmonary tissue in asthma rats so as to explore its underlying mechanism.
METHODS
A total of 33 Wistar rats were randomized into normal control (n=6), model (n=9), dexamethasone (DX, n=9) and acupoint-application (A-A, n=9) groups. Asthma model was established by intraperitoneal injection of 10% ovalbumin(OVA, 1 mL)and forced inhalation of atomized 2% OVA (25 mL) for 40 min, once daily for 2 weeks. "Dazhui" (GV 14). "Pishu" (BL 20), "Feishu" (BL 13) and "Shenshu" (BL 23) were selected for external application of Chinese medicinal herbs (pricklyash peel, white mustard seeds, asarum herb, etc.) for rats of A-A group, and that of control drugs (ang-kak, black rice, ginger juice, etc) for rats of DX group. Infiltration degrees of eosinophils (Eos), lymphocytes (L) and macrophages (MO) in the pulmonary tissue were observed under microscope. IL-4 and IFN-gamma expression was displayed by using immunohistochemical method.
RESULTS
In comparison with control group, the infiltration degrees of E(OS). L and Mphi increased significantly in model, DX and acupoint-application groups (P < 0.05, 0.01); while compared with model group, the infiltration of E(OS), L and Mphi in DX group, E(OS) in A-A group decreased significantly (P < 0.05, 0.01). No significant differences were found between DX and A-A groups in these 3 indexes (P > 0.05). Results of immunohisto chemical staining in the lung tissue indicated that compared with control group, IL-4 expression in model increased significantly (P < 0.01), IFN-gamma expression decreased considerably in model and DX group (P < 0.01); when compared with model group, IL-4 in both A-A group and DX group decreased significantly, and IFN-gamma expression in A-A group increased considerably (P < 0.05, 0.01). No significant differences were found between DX and A-A groups in IL-4 expression (P > 0.05).
CONCLUSIONS
Acupoint application of Chinese herbal medicines can balance Thl/Th2 and effectively reduce the infiltration of eosinophils, which may contribute to its therapeutic effect in relieving asthma.
