RESUMO
Background: Guishaozichuan (GSZC) granules are a traditional Chinese medicine formulation created by Professor Li (Chinese-Japanese Friendship Hospital, Beijing, China) we studied the effect of GSZC granules in rats suffering from asthma. Methods: Specific pathogen-free Sprague-Dawley rats were divided randomly into seven groups. Ovalbumin (OVA) and Al (OH)3 gel were used to create an asthma model. On day 1, rats were injected with OVA (10 mg) and an Al(OH)3 gel suspension (100 mg). One week later, rats were sensitized again. On day 15, rats were given aerosolized OVA (1%) for 30 min/day for 10 days. Gastric administration of OVA was 1 h before nebulization. At 24 h after the last stimulation, changes in airway resistance (RI) and dynamic compliance (Cdyn) in rat lungs were measured after challenge with methacholine at increasing concentrations. The contents of immunoglobulin (Ig)E, interleukin (IL)-4, IL-5, IL-13, and IL-17 in serum were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. The percentage of eosinophils (EOS) and the white blood cell (WBC) count in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were counted under an optical microscope. Pathologic alterations in lung tissue were evaluated by optical microscopy, and lung injury score calculated. Expression of mucin 5AC, oligomeric mucus/gel-forming (MUC5AC) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in lung tissue was measured by immunohistochemistry. mRNA expression of MUC5AC and EGFR in lung tissue was measured by real-time reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Results: GSZC granules reduced RI markedly and improved Cdyn, decreased serum levels of IgE, IL-4, IL-5, IL-13, IL-17, %EOS and the WBC count in BALF. GSZC granules alleviated lung-tissue damage, diminished the Inflammation Score, and reduced mRNA and protein expression of MUC5AC and EGFR in lung tissue. Conclusion: GSZC granules could improve bronchial hyperresponsiveness, bronchial inflammation, and histopathologic damage in the lungs of rats suffering from asthma. This phenomenon may be related to its regulation of cytokine levels and the MUC5AC/EGFR signaling pathway.
RESUMO
A protocol for metabolic profiling of mice urine was developed based on gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (GC-MS) to explore metabolic state directly. The intra-day, inter-day, repeatability, and stability RSD for most endogenous compounds were less than 3%. Type 2 diabetic mellitus (T2DM) mice model was induced by high calorie diet combined with streptozocin. Urine from the control, T2DM and Huangbai-Zhimu herb-pair (HZ) treatment mice were enrolled in the subsequent study to show the usefulness of the method. OPLS-DA scores plots demonstrate that the cluster of T2DM mice is separated from that of control mice, while HZ-T2DM mice are located close to control mice, indicating that metabolic profiles of these HZ-T2DM mice are placed toward those of control group. The results illustrate that HZ treatment could lower the level of d-glucose, hexadecanoic acid, octadecanoic acid, propanoic acid, 3-hydroxybutyric acid, and 2,3-dihydroxybutanoic acid in urine of DM mice, meanwhile the results show that HZ treatment could ameliorate T2DM symptoms by intervening the fatty acid metabolism, starch and sucrose metabolism, and glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism. This preliminary application indicated that the method is suitable and reliable for urine metabolic profiling. This study might explain the metabolic effects of T2DM and the mechanisms of action of HZ against T2DM.
