Antiasthmatic action of dibenzylbutyrolactone lignans from fruits of Forsythia viridissima on asthmatic responses to ovalbumin challenge in conscious guinea-pigs.

It was reported previously that dibenzylbutyrolactone lignans from Forsythia viridissima fruits, which are traditional medicines for the treatment of inflammatory diseases, have antiinflammatory effects. In this study, the effects on the immediate-phase response (IAR) and late-phase response (LAR) following aerosolized-ovalbumin challenge in ovalbumin-sensitized guinea-pigs were evaluated by measuring the specific airway resistance (sRaw), recruitment of leukocytes and chemical mediators in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluids (BALF) as well as a histopathological survey. Arctiin and matairesinol at 12.5 mg/kg significantly (p < 0.05) decreased sRaw by 51.83% and 43.15% in IAR and by 47.41% and 35.43% in LAR, respectively, whereas arctigenin at 25 mg/kg was significantly active, compared with the controls. Furthermore, arctiin and arctigenin dose-dependently inhibited histamine, and the activities of phospholipase A2 (PLA2) and eosinophil peroxidase (EPO) in BALF, respectively, whereas matairesinol inhibited EPO and PLA2 at 12.5 mg/kg and histamine at 50 mg/kg, in addition, they moderately improved the infiltration of eosinophils, compared with controls. Dexamethasone, cromolyn and salbutamol significantly inhibited sRaw in both IAR and LAR, and the recruitment of leukocytes and chemical mediators, whereas salbutamol did not alter chemical mediators, in BALF. These results indicate the three lignans have antiasthmatic effects which were less active than those of the reference drugs.

The analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of 7-oxosandaracopimaric acid isolated from the roots of Aralia cordata.

The root of Aralia cordata is a traditional medicine for the treatment of inflammation, fever, pain, and spasm in the various diseases in Korea. We isolated a dibenzylbutyrolactone diterpene acid, 7-oxosandaracopimaric acid (OSA), from the ether fraction of Aralia cordata MeOH extract, and studied the effect of OSA on phenylquinone (PQ)-induced writhing syndrome and PQ-induced capillary permeability increase, compound 48/80-induced histamine release by peritoneal mast cells, cycloxygenase (COX) activities, and silica-induced RAW 264.7 cell reactive oxygen species production. OSA (30 mg/kg, p.o.) significantly (p < 0.05) inhibited PQ-induced writhes by 25.8% and the PQ-induced capillary permeability increase levels by 33.13% as compared with PQ control. Furthermore, OSA (10 mM) inhibited COX-1 by 22.82 +/- 1.94%, and COX-2 by 15.86 +/- 1.35%, respectively, to the same extent as indomethacin at the same concentration (10 mM). And OSA (3.0 mM) significantly (p < 0.05) inhibited compound 48/80-induced histamine release from rat mast cells, and its activity was similar to that of celebrex (1 mM), but no piracetam (0.1 mM) inhibited them. OSA did not inhibit ROS production in RAW 264.7 cells. These results indicated that OSA has analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects due to its inhibitory effects on capillary permeability, COX activities, and histamine release.

Effect of coenzyme Q10 on cutaneous healing in skin-incised mice.

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is a biosynthesized quinone with 10 isoprene side chains in humans. To investigate the anti-inflammatory and wound healing effect of CoQ10, we performed in vivo and in vitro experiments. In vivo studies, there were 3 groups; Naive (without skin incision), Control (with skin incision) and CoQ10 (100 mg/kg treatment with skin incision). Collagen-like polymer (CLP) level of CoQ10 group was increased significantly compared to the control group (p<0.05). Also, CoQ10 group showed significant inhibition on myeloperoxidase (MPO) and PLA(2) level compared to the control group (p<0.05). These data show that CoQ10 may have an anti-inflammatory and a wound healing effect. CoQ10 showed significant antioxidant activity in vivo on malondialdehyde (MDA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels compared to the control group (p<0.05). Although CoQ10 did not show antioxidant activity in cell free system of DPPH radical scavenge, it had a potent antioxidant activity in cell culture system of both silica- and zymosan-induced reactive oxygen species generation using Raw 264.7 cells. This result may be associated with the conversion of CoQ10 to the reduced form (CoQ10H(2)) in the presence of some kinds of intracellular reducing agents. In conclusion, it is considered that CoQ10 appears to have a cutaneous healing effect in vivo, which may be related to the secondary action of CoQ10.