title: So-Cheong-Ryong-Tang, tradititional Korean medicine, suppresses Th2 lineage development.
abstract: The present study was designed to evaluate the effect of So-Cheong-Ryong-Tang (SCRT, also called Sho-Seiryu-To or Xiao-Qing-Long-Tang) on helper T cell development by monitoring Th1/Th2-specific cytokine secretion patterns in artificially induced Th1 or Th2 polarized conditions. The results demonstrated that Th2 cells were dramatically underpopulated in the Th2-driven condition triggered by SCRT treatment, while the Th1 cells were not altered in the Th1-skewed condition. Furthermore, under Th2-skewed conditions the levels of interleukin-4 were considerably decreased with SCRT treatment. The expression of GATA-3, a transcription factor that plays a pivotal role in Th2 lineage programming, did not change with SCRT treatment, while the expression of another Th2 transcription factor, c-Maf, was dramatically suppressed. These data suggest that SCRT modulates Th2 development by suppressing c-Maf expression. This study implies that the SCRT effect on CD4(+) T cells is a key pharmacologic point of effect for treating IgE-mediated allergic asthma. These results also suggest that SCRT might be a useful agent for the correction of Th2-dominant pathologic disorders.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, College of Oriental Medicine, Kyunghee University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Eunjung
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.forename: Samwoong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rho
authors.forename: Chongwoon
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Hyun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Seonggyu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.forename: Youngwon
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Moo-Chang
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Min-Kyu
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Seung-Gi
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: Hyunsu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bae
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019070:Cell Lineage / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D006131:Growth Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007723:Korea; D020835:Medicine, Kampo; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D006131:Growth Inhibitors; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; C090832:sho-seiryu-to