Effect of Ligustrazine on airway inflammation and airway remodeling in asthmatic rats

Objective To investigate the molecular mechanism underlying inhibitory effect of Ligustrazine on allergic airway inflammation and airway remodeling in asthmatic rats through modulation of GATA-3 and interleukin-5(IL-5).Methods Thirty-two healthy Wister rats were randomly divided into 4 groups:the normal group(n=8), the asthma model group(n=8), the Ligustrazine group(n=8), and the dexamethasone(DXM)group(n=8).By HE stain, pathologic changes of lung tissue were observed.The counts of eosinophil(Eos) and the thickness of airway smooth muscle in lung tissue were measured.The expressions of GATA-3 and IL-5 in lung tissue were measured by two-step immuno-histochemistry assay and the correlation between GATA-3, IL-5 and airway inflammation was analyzed.Results Compared with the asthma model group, Eos count and the thickness of airway smooth muscle of the lung tissue in the groups treated with Ligustrazine and dexamethasone were significantly decreased(P0.05).The two treated groups showed significantly lowered expression of GATA-3 and IL-5 than did the asthma group(P0.05).Additionally, the expression of GATA-3 and IL-5 were positively correlated with airway inflammatory response.Conclusion Ligus-trazine could inhibit airway inflammation and improve airway remodeling in asthma by down-regulating the expression of GATA-3 and IL-5.