• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.183-191
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• 1991

The effects of Ephedrae herba on cellular and humoral immune responses were investigated in mice. Group A and B of mice received intraperitoneal injection of methanol extracts, ether fraction(E), petroleum ether fraction(PE), ethyl acetate fraction(EA) and water fraction(W) for 5 days or 10 days before sensitization. The other group received i.p. injection of ephedrine (Ep) or pseudoephedrine $({\psi}\;Ep)$ for 1 day prior to sensitization. The change of body and spleen weights showed a tendency of decreasing but that of thymus showed increasing. Ear swelling was maximum at 48 hours after challenge and was significantly decreased in the groups treated with EA, W, Ep, and ${\psi}\;Ep$. HA titer was enhanced in EA, W and EP treated groups, HE titer being significantly decreased.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.69-76
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• 2005

Objectives : HERBA EPHEDRAE (HE) has been used cough and asthma for long time in korea. In the present study, we examined the effect HE on the ovalbumin (OVA)-induced airway hyper-reactivity (AHR). Methods : To examine the effect of HE on AHR, mice were sensitized with 100 mg of OVA and 1mg of alum intraperitoneally on day 0 and 14. On day 28, mice were challenged on 3 consecutive days with 3% OVA and AHR was assessed 24 h after the last challenge. To examine severity of airway hyper-reactivity, we examined eosinophil population and cytokine production in bronchoaveloar lavage fluid(BALF) and stained with hematoxylin and eosin in lung. Results : HE potently inhibited the development of airway hyper-reactivity and also reduced the number of eosinophil during OVA-induced airway hyper-reactivity. HE also inhibited cytokines production such as IL-4, IL-5, IL-13 in BALF. Furthermore, HE inhibited proliferation of eosinophil in a dose dependent manner. Conclusions : These results suggest that HE may be beneficial oriental medicine for AHR.