ANTI-ALLERGIC ACTIVITY OF ETHANOL EXTRACT OF CHINESE PETASITES TATEWAKIANUS KITAM IN PREVENTIVE TREATMENT OF ALLERGIC RHINITIS

YUGUI FU^1Α, DEJIAN HU^2Α, LI WANG^3*

¹Department of Otolaryngology, Linyi People’s Hospital, Linyi 276003, China - ²Department of Pharmacy, Weifang People’s Hospital, Weifang 261000, China - ³Department of Otolaryngology, the affiliated Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital of Qingdao University, Yantai 264000, China

Objective: This study aims to evaluate potential protective effects of the ethanol extract of Chinese Petasites tatewakianus Kitam (PTK) on rats with induced AR.

Methods: Sprague-Dawley rats were sensitized and randomly allocated into two groups: control (n = 10) and PTK (n = 10). One hr prior to intra-nasal challenge with the antigen, rats received either the PTK or saline vehicle per os. Nasal symptoms and quality of life were compared between the rats in the two groups over the course of 20 min post-challenge. Nasal fluids and in serum were collected 1 hr after the antigen challenge and then evaluated for the levels of several key inflammatory mediators. Lipid media- tor production was also evaluated ex vivo using PBMC (peripheral blood mononuclear cells) and granulocytes from the sensitized rats.

Results: The results showed that a single administration of PTK extract resulted in significantly decreased histamine and LTs levels (LTB4 and cysteinyl-LTs) in the blood and nasal fluids of the rats. Further, the synthesis of cysteinyl-LTs and LTB4 were all significantly inhibited ex vivo by the PTK extract. Overall, the treatment with PTK extract significantly alleviated the nasal symptoms and improved the quality-of-life of the challenged hosts.

Conclusion: Taken together, these results indicated to us that PTK extract was effective in treating AR, in part, by decreasing levels of nasal inflammatory mediators and the synthesis of LTs and, in doing so, ameliorated allergy symptoms and improved the quality of life of the antigen-challenged sensitized hosts.