title: The effect of Shenmai injection on the proliferation of Rat airway smooth muscle cells in asthma and underlying mechanism.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Over-proliferation of airway smooth muscle cell (ASMC) is one of the important contributors to airway remodeling in asthma. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Shenmai injection (SMI) on the proliferation of the rat ASMC in asthma.
  
  
  METHODS
  Rats were randomly divided into three groups: the control group, the asthma group, and the SMI treatment group. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunocytochemistry staining were used to detect the mRNA and protein expression of transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) in rat ASMC respectively. Intracellular Ca²⁺ concentration ( [Ca²⁺](i)) in rat ASMC were measured with Fluo-3/AM by confocal microscopy. The proliferation was detected by MTT assay.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with the control group, the asthma group showed an increased expression of TRPV1 and [Ca²⁺](i) in rat ASMC. The expression of PCNA and absorbance of MTT assay in asthma rat ASMC was also significantly increased. SMI could significantly decrease the expression of TRPV1 channel and [Ca²⁺](i) in the asthmatic rat ASMC. Furthermore, the expression of PCNA and absorbance of MTT assay in asthmatic rat ASMC was significantly reduced after SMI treatment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  SMI may prevent asthma-induced ASMC over-proliferation probably by inhibiting the expression of TRPV1 channel, which regulates the intracellular calcium concentration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine and Intensive Care Union, Henan Provincial Peoples' Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450003, China. malijun0401@163.com.
authors.forename: Limin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Jizhen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Xiaoyu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Hongyan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kuang
authors.forename: Yali
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Lijun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ma
mesh_terms: D056151:Airway Remodeling / Q000187:drug effects*; D000818:Animals; D001249:Asthma / Q000378:metabolism*; D002118:Calcium / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004338:Drug Combinations; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D042541:Intracellular Space / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D032389:Myocytes, Smooth Muscle / Q000187:drug effects*; D018809:Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D050916:TRPV Cation Channels / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004338:Drug Combinations; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D018809:Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen; D050916:TRPV Cation Channels; C493921:TRPV1 protein, mouse; C009252:fructus schizandrae, radix ginseng, radix ophiopogonis drug combination; D002118:Calcium