Effects of Viola yedoensis Makino anti-itching compound on degranulation and cytokine generation in RBL-2H3 mast cells.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: The Chinese herb compound prescription Viola yedoensis Makino Anti-itching Compound (VYAC), which consists of Viola yedoensis Makino, herb, Sophora flavescens Aiton, root, and Dictamnus dasycarpus Turcz, root and rhizome, has been traditionally used to treat various skin allergic inflammatory diseases in clinic. AIM OF THE STUDY: The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of VYAC on degranulation and to determine its anti-inflammatory mechanism in RBL-2H3 mast cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS: VYAC was extracted with water-coction extraction (Shufen et al., 2012). The aqueous extracts were concentrated in vacuum under reduced pressure and lyophilized using a freeze dryer, and lyophilized powder was obtained. MTT was used to evaluate the cytotoxic of VYAC on RBL-2H3 cells. Degranulation was carried out with RBL-2H3 cell model, which was stimulated with A23187 plus PMA. ß-Hexosaminidase and histamine were measured to evaluate degranulation. The mRNA levels of inflammation cytokines (IL-1ß, TNF-α, IL-6, and iNOS) were investigated by RT-PCR to explain the anti-inflammatory mechanism of VYAC. RESULTS: VYAC did not show cytotoxic effect on RBL-2H3 cells in the range of 25-400µg/mL. A higher dose of VYAC (800µg/mL) showed significant cytotoxicity (P<0.05). VYAC could significantly inhibit ß-hexosaminidase and histamine release when treated with 100, 200, and 400µg/mL (P<0.05), but could not significantly inhibit ß-Hexosaminidase and histamine release when treated with 25 and 50µg/mL (p>0.05). The mRNA levels of inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1ß, IL-6, and iNOS) could significantly decrease when treated with 200 and 400µg/mL (P<0.05) of VYAC, which were associated with the development of inflammation. CONCLUSIONS: Results showed that VYAC inhibited ß-hexosaminidase and histamine release, which was inhibit A23187 plus PMA stimulated RBL-2H3 cell degranulation and downregulated inflammatory cytokines (IL-1ß, TNF-α, IL-6, and iNOS) expression to block inflammatory development.

[Efficacy of routinely used patterns for schistosomiasis diagnosis in lake and marshland regions].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of routinely used pattern for schistosomiasis diagnosis in lake and marshland regions. METHODS: A historically heavy endemic village of schistosomiasis named Jinggan Village from Jiangling County was selected for field survey. The residents aged 6-65 years were screened by indirect hemagglutination assay (IHA) and dipstick dye immunoassay (DDIA) in parallel. The serological positives were examined by Kato-Katz technique and miracidium hatching technique to determine the infection of schistosome. The consistency of the two serological methods was evaluated. In addition, the schistosome infection rates were estimated accordingto the 3 detection patterns namely IHA, DDIA, IHA+DDIA combined with the etiologic examination. RESULTS: A total of 530 individuals were examined by the serological tests. The positive rate of DDIA was 46.98% (249/530), significantly higher than that of IHA (28.49%, 151/530) (χ2 = 59.55, P < 0.01). Totally 279 individuals were serological positives determined by IHA or DDIA, while 252 of them were detected by stool examination, and 22 cases were determined as parasitological positives, while 7 and 3 cases were diagnosed as antibody negatives by IHA and DDIA, respectively. The estimated infection rates determined by IHA, DDIA, IHA plus DDIA combined with stool examination were 3.14%, 3.97%, 4.60%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Under the condition of endemic situation becoming more and more waning, the current routinely used pattern for schistosomiasis detection may lead to missed diagnosis. So, more sensitive and effective diagnostic tools or appropriate detection patterns need to be explored.

[Relationship between system biology and traditional Chinese constitutional medicine].

Life system and medicine are both complex systems. Recently, traditional biologists have acquired tremendous data from high-speed development of all kinds of species group. However, how to use these data to interpret the mechanisms of diseases and health has become the research target of current investigators. The booms of system biology provide new thought and research methods to tackle this problem. This paper emphasizes the relationship between system biology and traditional Chinese constitutional medicine.