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eCAM Advance Access originally published online on November 27, 2006
eCAM 2007 4(2):209-217; doi:10.1093/ecam/nel083
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© 2006 The Author(s).
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Inhibition of Release of Vasoactive and Inflammatory Mediators in Airway and Vascular Tissues and Macrophages By a Chinese Herbal Medicine Formula for Allergic Rhinitis

George Binh Lenon1, Chun Guang Li1, Charlie Changli Xue1, Francis Chung Kong Thien2 and David Frederick Story1

1The Chinese Medicine Research Group, RMIT University Bundoora West Campus and 2Alfred Hospital and Monash University Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Herbal therapies are being used increasingly for the treatment of allergic rhinitis. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible pharmacological actions and cellular targets of a Chinese herbal formula (RCM-101), which was previously shown to be effective in reducing seasonal allergic rhinitis symptoms in a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Rat and guinea pig isolated tissues (trachea and aorta) were used to study the effects of RCM-101 on responses to various mediators. Production of leukotriene B4 in porcine neutrophils and of prostaglandin E2 and nitric oxide (NO) in Raw 264.7 cells were also measured. In rat and guinea pig tracheal preparations, RCM-101 inhibited contractile responses to compound 48/80 but not those to histamine (guinea pig preparations) or serotonin (rat preparations). Contractile responses of guinea pig tracheal preparations to carbachol and leukotriene C4, and relaxant responses to substance P and prostaglandin E2 were not affected by RCM-101. In rat aortic preparations, precontracted with phenylephrine, endothelium-dependent relaxant responses to acetylcholine and endothelium-independent relaxant responses to sodium nitroprusside were not affected by RCM-101. However, RCM-101 inhibited relaxations to L-arginine in endothelium-denuded rat aortic preparations, which had been pre-incubated with lipopolysaccharide. RCM-101 did not affect leukotriene B4 formation in isolated porcine neutrophils, induced by the calcium ionophore A23187 [GenBank] ; however, it inhibited prostaglandin E2 and NO production in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated murine macrophages (Raw 264.7 cells).The findings indicate that RCM-101 may have multiple inhibitory actions on the release and/or synthesis of inflammatory mediators involved in allergic rhinitis.

Keywords: allergic rhinitis – Chinese herbal medicine – histamine – inducible nitric oxide synthase – inflammation – leukotriene B4 – prostaglandin E2 – seasonal allergic rhinitis formula (RCM-101)

For reprints and all correspondence: George Lenon, RMIT University, Plenty Road, Bundoora, Melbourne, VIC 3049, Australia. Tel: +613-992-56587; Fax: +613-992-57178; E-mail: george.lenon{at}rmit.edu.au

Received May 2, 2006; accepted September 25, 2006


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