Figure 1.
ACA dose-dependently decreased white blood cell counts and the level of IgE in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of mice with OVA-induced asthma.
(a) ACA dose-dependently decreased white blood cell counts in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of mice with OVA-induced asthma. (b) ACA decreased IgE levels in the bronchioalveolar lavage fluid of mice with OVA-induced asthma. #p<0.01 vs. CON (vehicle control); +p<0.01 vs. OVA (OVA-induced asthma model); ¥p<0.01 vs. DEX (dexamethasone); ¶p<0.01 vs. ACA-25 mg (25 mg/kg/day ACA).
Table 1.
ACA reduced eosinophil numbers in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid recovered from mice with OVA-induced asthma.
Figure 2.
ACA dose-dependently inhibited histopathological changes in the lungs of mice with OVA-induced asthma.
(a) ACA dose-dependently reduced inflammatory cell infiltration around vessels and bronchioles, mucus secretion and cell debris in bronchioles, and goblet cell hyperplasia in the lungs. Bar size, 50 μm; hematoxylin and eosin stain. (b) ACA dose-dependently decreased bronchial secretion of glycoproteins in OVA-induced asthma. Bar size, 50 μm; PAS stain. Arrow: inflammatory cell infiltration. Br, bronchiole; Gc, goblet cell; M, mucus secretion; V, vessel. A, vehicle control; B, OVA-induced asthma model; C, dexamethasone; D, 25 mg/kg/day ACA; E, 50 mg/kg/day ACA.
Figure 3.
ACA suppressed T cells but not B cells in mice with OVA-induced asthma.
(a) ACA dose-dependently suppressed the upregulation of CD8+ cytotoxic T cells in the lungs. (b) ACA suppressed the upregulation of CD4+ Th cells as effectively as dexamethasone. (c) ACA did not affect CD79α+ B cells in the lungs of mice with OVA-induced asthma. Immunopositive cells were counted in five randomly selected nonoverlapping fields (×200 magnification) of three separately immunostained lung sections per animal. A, vehicle control; B, OVA-induced asthma model; C, dexamethasone; D, 25 mg/kg/day ACA; E 50 mg/kg/day ACA.
Figure 4.
ACA dose-dependently suppressed expression of several Th1/2 cytokines in OVA-induced asthma.
(a) IL-4 mRNA levels. (b) IL-6 mRNA levels. (c) IL-12α mRNA levels. (d) IL-13 mRNA levels. Results are expressed as mean ± SD (n = 6 per group). *p<0.05 and **p<0.01 vs. OVA group.
Figure 5.
ACA reduced expression of Th2 and Th1 cytokines in OVA-induced asthma.
Treatment with ACA reduced (a) IL-13 expression and (b) almost completely blocked IL-4 expression in the lungs. (c) ACA also decreased IL-5 expression but to a lesser extent. (d) ACA almost completely blocked IL-12α expression and (e) downregulated IFN-γ expression. Immunopositive cells were counted in five randomly selected nonoverlapping fields (×200 magnification) of three separately immunostained lung sections per each animal. A, vehicle control; B, OVA-induced asthma model; C, dexamethasone; D, 25 mg/kg/day ACA; E, 50 mg/kg/day ACA. Results are expressed as mean ± SD (n = 7 per group);*p<0.05 and **p<0.01 vs. OVA group.
Figure 6.
Chemical structure of 1′-acetoxychavicol acetate.