title: Relaxant action of plumula nelumbinis extract on mouse airway smooth muscle.
abstract: The traditional herb Plumula Nelumbinis is widely used in the world because it has many biological activities, such as anti-inflammation, antioxidant, antihypertension, and butyrylcholinesterase inhibition. However, the action of Plumula Nelumbinis on airway smooth muscle (ASM) relaxation has not been investigated. A chloroform extract of Plumula Nelumbinis (CEPN) was prepared, which completely inhibited precontraction induced by high K(+) in a concentration-dependent manner in mouse tracheal rings, but it had no effect on resting tension. CEPN also blocked voltage-dependent L-type Ca(2+) channel- (VDCC-) mediated currents. In addition, ACh-induced precontraction was also completely blocked by CEPN and partially inhibited by nifedipine or pyrazole 3. Besides, CEPN partially reduced ACh-activated nonselective cation channel (NSCC) currents. Taken together, our data demonstrate that CEPN blocked VDCC and NSCC to inhibit Ca(2+) influx, resulting in relaxation of precontracted ASM. This finding indicates that CEPN would be a candidate of new potent bronchodilators.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Medical Biology & Hubei Provincial Key Laboratory for Protection and Application of Special Plant Germplasmin Wuling Area of China, College of Life Sciences, South Central University for Nationalities, Wuhan 430074, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Institute for Medical Biology & Hubei Provincial Key Laboratory for Protection and Application of Special Plant Germplasmin Wuling Area of China, College of Life Sciences, South Central University for Nationalities, Wuhan 430074, China.
authors.forename: Weiwei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Institute for Medical Biology & Hubei Provincial Key Laboratory for Protection and Application of Special Plant Germplasmin Wuling Area of China, College of Life Sciences, South Central University for Nationalities, Wuhan 430074, China.
authors.forename: Ming-Yu
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Institute for Medical Biology & Hubei Provincial Key Laboratory for Protection and Application of Special Plant Germplasmin Wuling Area of China, College of Life Sciences, South Central University for Nationalities, Wuhan 430074, China.
authors.forename: Jinhua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Institute for Medical Biology & Hubei Provincial Key Laboratory for Protection and Application of Special Plant Germplasmin Wuling Area of China, College of Life Sciences, South Central University for Nationalities, Wuhan 430074, China.
authors.forename: Meng-Fei
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: College of Pharmacy, South-Central University for Nationalities, Wuhan 430074, China.
authors.forename: Guangzhong
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Lankenau Institute for Medical Research & Main Line Health Heart Center, 100 Lancaster Avenue, Wynnewood, PA 19096, USA.
authors.forename: Donglin
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine-Cardiology, Feinberg Cardiovascular Research Institute, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, USA.
authors.forename: Gangjian
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: National Laboratory of Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Guangju
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.affiliation: Institute for Medical Biology & Hubei Provincial Key Laboratory for Protection and Application of Special Plant Germplasmin Wuling Area of China, College of Life Sciences, South Central University for Nationalities, Wuhan 430074, China.
authors.forename: Qing-Hua
authors.initials: QH
authors.lastname: Liu