Investigation of the Individual Herbs in ASHMI (Anti-Asthma Herbal Medicine Intervention) That is Most Responsible for Reducing IgE Secretion

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RATIONALE: ASHMI, a 3-herb formula, has been shown to reduce total IgE in allergic asthma patients. To investigate the mechanisms by which the individual herbs in ASHMI (LingZhi, GanCao, KuShen) contribute to the effects of the overall formula, we evaluated the IgE suppressing effects of each herb on human myeloma B-cells.

METHODS: Aqueous extracts of GanCao, LingZhi, and KuShen were fractionated with respect to polarity and acidic vs. basic properties. The least polar (F1) and basic (F3) fractions were investigated for this study. U266 cells were cultured at 2x10⁵ cells/mL for 6 days in a 24-well plate at 37°C, 5% CO₂. The F1 and F3 fractions were added on day zero at concentrations equivalent to 500 μg/mL of ASHMI. IgE productions in the supernatants were quantified via Immunocap.

RESULTS: The F1 fraction of KuShen markedly suppressed IgE production (∼95%). However, the F3 fraction of KuShen as well as the F1 and F3 fractions of LingZhi and GanCao showed no effect on IgE production at concentrations corresponding to the respective concentrations in 500 μg/mL of ASHMI.

CONCLUSIONS: Although compounds from GanCao have been reported to have anti-IgE effects in other studies, our data show that the F1 fraction of KuShen is most responsible for the anti-IgE effects of ASHMI. Thus, KuShen F1 will be the target for investigating the anti-IgE property of ASHMI.