Effect of American cockroach extract on NF-κB andα-SMA expression in CCl4 caused liver fibrosisrat model / 重庆医学

Objective To investigate the effect of American cockroach extract on the expression of NF-κB andα-SMA in experi-mental liver fibrosis tissue,and to observe its antifibrotic efficacy.Methods The rat model of hepatic fibrosis was duplicated by car-bon tetrachloride and simultaneously given with American cockoach extract 0.5 g/kg by lavage.The level of serum alanine amin-otransferase enzyme (ALT),aspartate aminotransferase (AST)and albumin (Alb)were determined.The expression levels of NF-κB and a-SMA in liver tissue were determined by the immunohistochemical method and the liver histological changes were observed by light microscopy for conducting the grading of inflammatory activity and the fibrosis classification.Results American cockroach extract could reduce serum ALT,AST and liver tissue NF-κB andα-SMA levels.The serum Alb level had significant difference a-mong the APA group,Pseudo-ginseng Danshen group and the model group.The degeneration and necrosis of liver cells and the fi-brosis degree after medication were significantly reduced.Conclusion The American cockroach extract has certain anti-fibrosis effect,its mechanism may be related with the inhibition of expression of NF-κB andα-SMA.

Study on the effect of cockroach extract on animals with hepatic injury and its antiviral action in vitro / 国际中医中药杂志

Objective To study the effect of extract of cockroach on animals with acute hepatic injury and its antiviral action in vitro. Methods The animal models with hepar injury were established by CCl4, bcg vaccine and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) . And the activities of ALT and AST in serum were measured. Serum of ducks was separated after cockroach extract was administrated. The serum was added to the culture fluid of HBV-DNA transfected hepatic cancer cells-HepG2. Results After the cockroach extract was administrated, the activities of ALT and AST in mouse serum were reduced. Both the therapeutic indexes of cockroach extract and lamivudine were larger than 2. Conclusions Cockroach extract can improve the liver function of animals with acute hepatic injury, and inhibit the secretion of ALT and AST in serum.

IgE binding patterns to German cockroach whole body extract in Korean atopic asthmatic children

It is widely known that the cockroach is an inhalant allergen in atopic asthma and allergic rhinitis. Even though Bla g I and Bla g II are considered as the major allergens, several relatively high-molecular weight (MW) cockroach allergens have also been recently identified by IgE-immunoblot in western countries. However, the environmental control and diagnostic tests mainly focussed on Bla g I and Bla g II. Furthermore there is no data about major IgE-binding cockroach antigens in Korea. We performed this study to identify the major German cockroach allergens in Korean atopic children. By the results of allergy skin tests, 14 children with atopic asthma (9 were cockroach-sensitive and 5 were cockroach-nonsensitive atopics) were enrolled in this study. We conducted IgE immunoblot and autoradiographic analysis using Yonsei-extract of German cockroach antigen produced in our laboratory, individual sera from 9 cockroach- sensitive children, and the pooled sera of 5 house-dust-mites-only-sensitive children. We performed an allergic skin test to cockroach mix, and a radioallergosorbent test (RAST) using German cockroach crude extract on all subjects. German cockroach-specific IgE was detected in 6 out of 9 subjects by RAST. We identified at least 15 IgE-binding protein bands, and among them, the components of MWs of 76, 64, 50, 38, and <14 kilodaltons (kDa) were the major German cockroach allergens in study subjects. Therefore, Bla g I (25-30 kDa) and Bla g II (36 kDa) could not be the absolute indicators of German cockroach sensitization and parameters of environmental control.