title: Inhibitory effects of lignans and flavonoids in saiboku-to, a herbal medicine for bronchial asthma, on the release of leukotrienes from human polymorphonuclear leukocytes.
abstract: To identify the anti-allergic components contained in Saiboku-To, a herbal medicine for the treatment of bronchial asthma, we studied the effects of eight phenolic compounds, which have been identified as the major human metabolites of Saiboku-To, and three triterpenoids contained in Saiboku-To on the release of leukotriene (LT) from human polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMLs) stimulated with Ca(2+)-ionophore A23,187. All phenolic compounds exhibited dose-dependent suppression on release of both LTB4 and LTC4, while triterpenoids did not show any effects, except for glycyrrhetinic acid, which selectively inhibited LTC4-release. The five phenolic compounds, magnolol, dihydroxydihydromagnolol, baicalein, medicarpine and davidigenin, were found to exert a marked inhibition on LTB4- and LTC4-release with IC50 values of 0.7-15.3 microM. The results suggest that the phenolic compounds contribute to the anti-allergic effects of Saiboku-To through suppression of LT-release from PMLs.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Homma
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Minami
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Taniguchi
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Oka
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Morita
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Niitsuma
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hayashi
mesh_terms: D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001249:Asthma / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005419:Flavonoids / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D015289:Leukotrienes / Q000378:metabolism*; D017705:Lignans / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D020835:Medicine, Kampo; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D005419:Flavonoids; D015289:Leukotrienes; D017705:Lignans; C045086:saiboku-to