title: Effects of absorbed components of saiboku-to on the release of leukotrienes from polymorphonuclear leukocytes of patients with bronchial asthma.
abstract: Previous studies confirmed the efficacy of the Chinese herbal remedy Saiboku-to in patients with steroid-dependent asthma. We studied 8 phenolic compounds, isolated from the urine of patients receiving Saiboku-to, with respect to their effects on leukotriene (LT) release by polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) obtained from 6 patients with atopic asthma and 8 healthy subjects. The compounds (0.01-10 micrograms/ml) were incubated with Ca2+ ionophore (A23187)-stimulated PMN, and concentrations of leukotriene B4 (LTB4) and leukotriene C4 (LTC4) in the supernatant were measured by EIA. Each compound suppressed the release of LTB4 and LTC4 by PMN obtained from healthy and asthmatic subjects. In particular, baicalein and magnolol were 5-10 times more potent than azelastine, an antiallergic drug, and significantly suppressed LTC4 release by PMN obtained from asthmatic patients, as compared with healthy subjects. Suppression of LTC4 release by these compounds may play an important role in the clinical efficacy of Saiboku-to.
authors.affiliation: Department of Third Internal Medicine, Tokyo Medical University, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan.t-niitsu@tokyo-med.ac.jp
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Niitsuma
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Morita
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hayashi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Homma
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Oka
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001249:Asthma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006634:Histamine H1 Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D015289:Leukotrienes / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D020835:Medicine, Kampo; D008875:Middle Aged; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D006634:Histamine H1 Antagonists; D015289:Leukotrienes; C045086:saiboku-to