title: Effects of an anthraquinone derivative from Rheum officinale Baill, emodin, on airway responses in a murine model of asthma.
abstract: Emodin is a component from traditional Chinese herbal medicines. We focused on investigating whether emodin possesses distinct anti-inflammatory activity on a non-infectious mouse model of asthma, and we aimed to elucidate its involvement with the NF-κB pathway. BALB/c mice that were sensitized and challenged to ovalbumin were treated with emodin (40 mg/kg) 1h before they were challenged with OVA. Our study demonstrated that emodin inhibited OVA-induced increases in eosinophil count; interleukin (IL)-4, IL-5, and IL-13 levels were recovered in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and reduced serum levels of OVA-specific IgE, IgG, and IgG1. Histological studies demonstrated that emodin substantially inhibited OVA-induced eosinophilia in lung tissue and mucus hyper-secretion by goblet cells in the airway. Furthermore, pretreatment with emodin resulted in a significant reduction in mRNA expression of acidic mammalian chitinase (AMCase), chitinase 3-like protein 4 (Ym2) and Muc5ac in lung tissues and airway hyperresponsiveness to methacholine. These findings suggest that emodin may effectively delay the progression of airway inflammation and could be used as a therapy for patients with allergic airway inflammation.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Zoonosis, Ministry of Education, Institute of Zoonosis, College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Jilin University, Changchun, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.forename: Miaomiao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Xiaofeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Qingjun
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Xianxing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Mingfeng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.forename: Dacheng
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xuming
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Deng
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001249:Asthma / Q000188:drug therapy*; D001483:Base Sequence; D015153:Blotting, Western; D001992:Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid; D017931:DNA Primers; D004642:Emodin / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000378:metabolism; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012250:Rheum / Q000737:chemistry*; D014132:Trachea / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D016328:NF-kappa B; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D004642:Emodin