Objective To explore the effect of melatonin(MT) on connective tissue growth factor(CTGF) and the airway remodeling in asthmatic mice.Methods The mice were randomly divided into 4 groups as control group,asthmatic group,MT treated group and dexamethasone treated group.The mice were sensitized and repeatedly challenged with ovalbumin(OVA) for 2 and 4 weeks.MT treated group were intraperitoneal injected with MT,and dexamethasone treated group were intraperitoneal injected with DXM.The eosinophils around the airway were examined with microscopy after histochemical staining.Masson staining was used to stain collagen fibers and PAS staining was used to stain airway mucus.The following parameters including the perimeter of bronchial basement membrane (Pbm),total bronchial wall area(WAt),inner wall area(WAi),smooth muscle area(WAm),collagen area(Wcol) and mucus area were measured by Leica image analysis software.The protein expression of CTGF was assessed with immunohistochemistry.Results WAt/Pbm,WAi/Pbm,WAm/Pbm,Wcol/Pbm,the mucus area and the expression of CTGF were significantly higher in asthmatic group than those in control group.MT treated group and dexam ethasone treated group significantly alleviated the above-mentioned indicators increased.Conclusion MT inhibits the expression of CTGF and airway remodeling,which has a comparative potency of dexamethasone.

Gei Herba is a traditional folk herbal medicine with a variety of functions such as replenishing Qi and invigorating spleen， tonifying blood and nourishing Yin， moistening lung and resolving phlegm， activating blood and alleviating edema， moving Qi， and activating blood. The reports about the pharmacological effects of this herbal medicine have been increasing in recent years. By reviewing the ancient and modern literature about Gei Herba， we systematically organized the name， original plants， nature， taste， and functions of this herbal medicine， and summarized the modern pharmacological studies and clinical applications of Gei Herba in cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Gei Herba was first recorded in the name of "Dijiao" in the Geng Xin Yu Ce（《庚辛玉册》） written in the Ming Dynasty. It is derived from Geum japonicum var. chinense （Rosaceae） and sometimes confused with Adina rubella （Rubiaceae）. This medicine had numerous synonyms in the local materia medica books. Gei Herba is widely distributed and harvested in summer and autumn， with the dried whole grass used as medicine. The historical records of the nature， taste， meridian tropism， main functions， and indications of Gei Herba are not consistent. It is generally believed that Gei Herba is pungent， bitter， sweet， cool， and has tropism to the liver， spleen， and lung meridians. Based on the effects of tonifying Qi， activating blood， and nourishing Yin， modern pharmacological studies have reported that the extracts of Gei Herba and the tannin phenolic acid compounds and triterpenoids isolated from Gei Herba have therapeutic effects on cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases such as hypertension， myocardial ischemia， cerebral ischemia， and vascular dementia. This study provides a reference for discovering the clinical advantages of Gei Herba and developing new drugs.