title: Inhibition of phosphodiesterase activity, airway inflammation and hyperresponsiveness by PDE4 inhibitor and glucocorticoid in a murine model of allergic asthma.
abstract: Phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4) isozyme plays important roles in inflammatory and immunomodulatory cells. In this study, piclamilast, a selective PDE4 inhibitor, was used to investigate the role of PDE4 in respiratory function and inflammation in a murine asthma model. Sensitized mice were challenged with aerosolized ovalbumin for 7 days, piclamilast (1, 3 and 10 mg/kg) and dexamethasone (2 mg/kg) were orally administered once daily during the period of challenge. Twenty-four hours after the last challenge, airway hyperresponsiveness to methacholine was determined by whole-body plethysmography, airway inflammation and mucus secretion by histomorphometry, pulmonary cAMP-PDE activity by HPLC, cytokine levels in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and their mRNA expression in lung by ELISA and RT-PCR, respectively. In control mice, significant induction of cAMP-PDE activity was parallel to the increases of hyperresponsiveness, inflammatory cells, cytokine levels, mRNA expression as well as goblet cell hyperplasia. However, piclamilast dose-dependently and significantly improved airway resistance and dynamic compliance, and the maximal effect was similar to that of dexamethasone. Piclamilast treatment dose-dependently and significantly prevented the increase in inflammatory cell number and goblet cell hyperplasia, as well as production of cytokines, including eotaxin, TNFalpha and IL-4. Piclamilast exerted a weaker inhibitory effect than dexamethasone on eosinophils and neutrophils, had no effect on lymphocyte accumulation. Moreover, piclamilast inhibited up-regulation of cAMP-PDE activity and cytokine mRNA expression; the maximal inhibition of cAMP-PDE was greater than that exerted by dexamethasone, and was similar to dexamethasone on cytokine mRNA expression. This study suggests that inhibition of PDE4 by piclamilast robustly improves the pulmonary function, airway inflammation and goblet cell hyperplasia in murine allergenic asthma.
authors.affiliation: Zhejiang Respiratory Drugs Research Laboratory of State Food and Drug Administration, Medical Science College of Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310031, PR China.
authors.forename: Jian-Gang
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Yang-Mei
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: Ximei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Hui-Fang
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Jun-Fang
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: Ji-Qiang
authors.initials: JQ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Shui-You
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Qiang-Min
authors.initials: QM
authors.lastname: Xie
mesh_terms: D015105:3',5'-Cyclic-AMP Phosphodiesterases / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D001249:Asthma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D000242:Cyclic AMP / Q000378:metabolism; D054703:Cyclic Nucleotide Phosphodiesterases, Type 4; D017931:DNA Primers; D003907:Dexamethasone / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000235:genetics; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000235:genetics; D008168:Lung / Q000473:pathology; D051379:Mice; D010726:Phosphodiesterase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D005938:Glucocorticoids; D010726:Phosphodiesterase Inhibitors; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D015847:Interleukin-4; D003907:Dexamethasone; D007371:Interferon-gamma; D000242:Cyclic AMP; D015105:3',5'-Cyclic-AMP Phosphodiesterases; D054703:Cyclic Nucleotide Phosphodiesterases, Type 4