Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Picroside I inhibits asthma phenotypes by regulating T-bet/GATA-3 ratio and Th1/Th2 balance in a murine model of asthma

Sen Zhang¹ , Yuemei Lu¹, Jinhong Zheng², Hua Qin³, Xiaoling Qiu⁴, Haile Huang¹, Guangzhou Mo¹, Songrong Liang¹, Yaowei Zhang⁵

¹Department of respiration, Luoding People's Hospital, Luoding, Yunfu 527200; ²Department of Chemistry, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou 515041; ³State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510120; ⁴Department of Respiration, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University, Shantou; ⁵Department of Respiration, Zhuhai People's Hospital, Zhuhai, Guangdong 519000; ⁶Department of Pathology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University, Shantou, China.

For correspondence:- Sen Zhang Email: senzhang58@hotmail.com Tel:+867663822324

Accepted: 19 August 2018 Published: 30 September 2018

Citation: Zhang S, Lu Y, Zheng J, Qin H, Qiu X, Huang H, et al. Picroside I inhibits asthma phenotypes by regulating T-bet/GATA-3 ratio and Th1/Th2 balance in a murine model of asthma. Trop J Pharm Res 2018; 17(9):1777-1782 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v17i9.14

© 2018 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To examine the anti-asthmatic activity of picroside I in murine asthma model, and to elucidate the mechanism(s) involved.

Methods: The study involved systematic sensitization of acclimatized BALB/c mice with ovalbumin (OVA), and subsequent exposure to aerosol allergens. The effect of picroside I on associated IgE formation was determined. All assays were performed using standard protocols. Protein expression was assessed using western blotting.

Results: Picroside I inhibited allergic airway inflammation, AHR, and the production of OVA-associated IgE and Th2 cytokines. Moreover, it altered the T-bet/GATA3 ratio by suppressing the phosphorylation of STAT6 in a dose-dependent manner.

Conclusion: These results indicate that the anti-asthmatic effect of picroside I occurs via a mechanism involving inhibition of Th2 cytokines by suppression of the expressions of pSTAT6 and GATA-3, and upregulation of the expression of T-bet. Thus, picroside I is a promising agent for the management of asthma.

Keywords: Picroside, Asthma, Allergic response, IgE, GATA-3, pSTAT6