title: In vitro and in vivo evaluation of the anti-asthmatic activities of fractions from Pheretima.
abstract: Pheretima (family Megascolecidae) has been documented as a potent agent for the treatment of cough and breathing difficulty in traditional Chinese medicine for nearly 2000 years. The water extract of Pheretima was separated into three fractions of the ethanolic precipitate, the alkaline fraction and the acidic fraction. Among the three fractions, the acidic fraction showed the most potent spasmolytic effects on histamine-induced contractions in isolated guinea pig tracheal rings, and the most inhibitory activities on increase of short circuit current induced by carbachol in isolated rat tracheal epitheliums with the IC50 values of 0.15 and 0.08 mg/ml, respectively. Further in vivo studies also displayed that the acidic fraction could protect experimental asthma model induced by the combination of histamine and acetylcholine chloride in guinea pigs to prolong the latent periods of asthma (P < 0.05) and significantly decrease the cough frequency caused by ammonia water in mice (P < 0.001).
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
authors.forename: Xiangping
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.forename: Zhaohui
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Dazheng
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Aihua
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Mingmei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Mingfeng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jia
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000996:Antitussive Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D001249:Asthma / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000188:drug therapy*; D003371:Cough / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000188:drug therapy; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004848:Epithelium / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D006632:Histamine; D020128:Inhibitory Concentration 50; D008297:Male; D008419:Materia Medica; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D051379:Mice; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000187:drug effects; D009835:Oligochaeta / Q000737:chemistry*; D010276:Parasympatholytics / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D014132:Trachea / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents; D000996:Antitussive Agents; D008419:Materia Medica; D010276:Parasympatholytics; D006632:Histamine