Objective To observe the effect of oridonin on the Th1/Th2 balance induced by ovalbumin (OVA) in a mice model of asthma.Methods Balbc female mice were randomly divided into 4 groups:normal group, model group, and experimental-low, experimental-high groups, each group had 10 mice. The acute asthma model was induced by OVA. After the model was successfully established, the experimental group was injected with oridonin 20, 40 mg · kg-1, qd for 14 d. The normal group and the model group were given normal saline. The airway hyperresponsiveness of mice was detected by airway hyperresponsiveness instrument. Serum immunoglobulin E (IgE) and interleukin-4 (IL-4) were detected by enzyme-linked adsorption assay. The percentage of Th1, Th2 cells in spleen were detected by flow cytometry. Results The airway hyperresponsiveness values when the concentration of methacholine was 100 μg·m L-1 in model, experimental-low, experimental-high groups were 2. 99 ± 0. 56, 2. 72 ± 0. 68 and 2. 58 ± 0. 43, respectively.The serum IgE levels (OD values) in the three groups were 1. 13 ± 0. 17, 0. 76 ± 0. 21 and 0. 59 ± 0. 19, respectively. The serum IL-4 levels in the three groups were (66. 3 ± 2. 1) , (56. 7 ± 2. 5) and (42. 7 ± 2. 5) pg·m L-1. The Th1/Th2 in spleen of the three groups were 0. 67 ± 0. 04, 0. 99 ± 0. 04 and 1. 47 ± 0. 06, respectively.Comparison between experimental-low, experimental-high groups with model group, the differences of the factors were significant (P < 0. 05, P < 0. 01) . Conclusion Oridonin can reduce the level of serum IgE and regulate the differentiation of Th1/Th2, improvingthe inflammatory response of acute asthma model.

OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of Schistosoma japonicum cysteine protease inhibitor (rSjCystatin) for treatment of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced sepsis in mice.

METHODSAfter a week of adaptive feeding, 54 BALB/c mice were randomly divided into normal control group (group A), sepsis group (group B), and rSjCystatin intervention group (group C). The mice in group A received an intraperitoneal injection of PBS (100 µL), and those in groups B and C were injected with PBS (100 µL) containing LPS (10 mg/kg); the mice in group C were also intraperitoneally injected with 25 µg sjCystatin in 100 µL PBS 30 min after LPS injection. From each group, 10 mice were randomly selected 24 h after PBS or LPS injection for detecting serum levels of TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-10 using ELISA and the levels of ALT, AST, BUN, and Cr using automatic biochemical analyzer; the pathological changes in the liver, lung and kidney were observed with HE staining. The remaining 8 mice in each group were used for observing the changes in the general condition and the 72-h survival.

RESULTSThe 72-h survival rates of the mice was 100% in group A, 0 in group B, and 36% in group C, showing a significant difference among the 3 groups (P<0.05). Compared with those in group A, the mice in group B exhibited obvious liver, lung, and renal pathologies with increased levels of ALT, AST, BUN, Cr, IL-6, and TNF-α (P<0.05). Treatment with sjCystatin significantly lessened LPS-induced organ pathologies, lowered the levels of liver and renal functional indexes and the pro-inflammatory cytokines, and increased the serum level of IL-10 in the mice (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSjCystatin can produce a significant therapeutic effect on sepsis induced by LPS in mice.

Objective To investigate the effect of cysteine protease inhibitor derived from S chistosoma japonicum(SjCys-tatin)on dextran sodium sulfate(DSS)-induced acute ulcerative colitis in mice.Methods Eighteen C57BL/6 mice were ran-domly divided into three groups:a control group treated with PBS(Group A),a DSS-induced-colitis group treated with PBS(Group B),and a DSS-induced-colitis group treated with SjCystatin(Group C).Colitis was induced in mice by giving 3％DSS orally for 7 days.During this period,the mice were daily injected with 10μg of SjCystatin or PBS only as a control intraperitone-ally.The mice were monitored daily for their clinical manifestations and given scores based on disease activity index(DAI).The severity of colonic inflammation was monitored by the macroscopic score and pathological change.The cytokine profile including TNF-α,IL-4,IL-6 and IL-10 in the supernatants of colon homogenate was detected by ELISA.Results Compared with Group A(0.50 ± 0.28),the DAI score increased significantly in Group B(9.30 ± 1.30)(F=86.86,P<0.01),with remarkable path-ological damages seen in colon tissues.and the levels of TNF-α and IL-6 were(321.33±67.01)and(403.58 ±180.51)pg/mL.The DAI score significantly reduced in Group C(6.67±1.57)as compared to Group B(F=86.86,P<0.01),with improve-ments in the macroscopic and microscopic pathology in mouse colon specimens.As compared to Group B,the levels of TNF-α [(188.14 ± 40.14)pg/mL] and IL-6 [(209.71 ± 48.47)pg/mL] significantly decreased(F=17.46 and 9.89,both P<0.01).Con-clusion SjCystatin has a significantly inhibitory effect for alleviating DSS-induced acute ulcerative colitis in C57BL/6 mice.