title: Pharmacological Basis for the Medicinal Use of Lepidium sativum in Airways Disorders.
abstract: Lepidium sativum is widely used in folk medicine for treatment of hyperactive airways disorders, such as asthma, bronchitis and cough. The crude extract of Lepidium sativum (Ls.Cr) inhibited carbachol (CCh, 1 μM-) and K(+) (80 mM-) induced contractions in a pattern similar to that of dicyclomine. Ls.Cr at 0.03 mg/mL produced a rightward parallel shift of CCh curves, followed by nonparallel shift at higher concentration (0.1 mg/mL), suppressing maximum response, similar to that caused by dicyclomine. Pretreatment of tissues with Ls.Cr (0.1-0.3 mg/mL) shifted Ca(++) concentration-response curves (CRCs) to right, as produced by verapamil. Ls.Cr at low concentrations (0.03-0.1 mg/mL) caused leftward shift of isoprenaline-induced inhibitory CRCs, like that caused by rolipram, a phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitor. These results indicate that bronchodilatory effect of Lepidium sativum is mediated through a combination of anticholinergic, Ca(++) antagonist and PDE inhibitory pathways, which provides sound mechanistic background for its medicinal use in the overactive airways disorders.
authors.affiliation: Natural Product Research Unit, Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, The Aga Khan University Medical College, Karachi 74800, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Najeeb-Ur
authors.initials: NU
authors.lastname: Rehman
authors.forename: Arif-Ullah
authors.initials: AU
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: Khalid M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Alkharfy
authors.forename: Anwarul-Hassan
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Gilani