No abstract

We estimated the pharmacological efficacy of vitamin K (VK ) and VK on the mitogen-activated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of paediatric atopic dermatitis (AD) patients. VK suppressed the in vitro proliferation of T-cell mitogen-activated PBMCs of AD patients. In contrast, VK had little effect on the PBMC proliferation. The IL-2 production from the activated PBMCs of AD patients significantly increased (P < .05), while the production significantly decreased by 100 μmol L VK (P < .01). In addition, 100 μmol L VK reduced the percentage of CD4+ and CD4+CD25+ cells in PBMCs. These results suggest that VK2 can modulate T-cell function in PBMCs of AD patients.

BackgroundOver 20 kinds of steroids, tacrolimus ointments, and cyclosporine capsules are usually recommended for the treatment of atopic dermatitis (AD), depending on the symptoms of patients. However, several side effects sometimes occur with the extensive use of these agents for the treatment of pediatric AD patients. The purpose of this study was to explore whether vitamin K2 could be a new immunosuppressive candidate for pediatric patients with AD.MethodsThe immunosuppressive efficacy of vitamin K2 was evaluated through a cell‐culture procedure using mitogen‐activated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) obtained from pediatric AD patients.ResultsThe mean (SD) IC50 value of vitamin K2 for the proliferation of concanavalin A‐activated PBMCs was 15.37 (30.05) μmol/L, while the value for tacrolimus was 0.10 (0.28) ng/mL (0.12 (0.35) nmol/L). There was a significant correlation between the IC50 values for vitamin K2 and those for tacrolimus (P = 0.0001, r = 0.8871). However, there was no significant correlation between the IC50 values of vitamin K2 and those of cyclosporine A or methylprednisolone. A significant correlation between the IC50 values of vitamin K2 or tacrolimus and blood eosinophil counts (P = 0.0099, r = 0.7086 and P = 0.0032, r = 0.7722, respectively) was observed.ConclusionVitamin K2‐inhibited T‐cell mitogen stimulated proliferation of PBMCs from pediatric AD patients in a dose‐dependent manner. The PBMCs from pediatric AD patients were more sensitive to the immunosuppressive efficacy of vitamin K2 than the PBMCs from healthy subjects. The individual immunosuppressive pharmacological efficacy of vitamin K2 and of tacrolimus could be inferred from the blood eosinophil count of pediatric AD patients.

Immunosuppressive therapy for prevention of acute rejection episode occasionally causes serious adverse effects, and thus it is important to develop new therapeutic approach for renal transplant recipients. This study evaluated the immunosuppressive pharmacodynamics of tetrandrine (TET) and/or methylprednisolone (MP) in haemodialysis patients in vitro by using the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) isolated from whole blood of haemodialysis patients. The median (range) of MP IC values against the proliferation of patients PBMCs was 7.04 (2.30-500.00) ng/mL. In contrast, the median (range) of MP IC values against the proliferation of healthy PBMCs was 4.44 (3.19-5.08) ng/mL. The median (range) of TET IC values against the proliferation of patients PBMCs was 1.61 (1.04-4.79) μmol/L. Lower concentrations of TET (0.3-300 nmol/L) were able to decrease the IC values of MP and thus potentiate the MP immunosuppressive effect on patient PBMCs. The median (range) of MP IC values in combination with 0.3, 3, 30, and 300 nmol/L TET were 0.92 (0.49-8.39), 2.10 (0.45-20.00), 0.35 (0.092-1.05), and 0.14 (0.05-6.78) ng/mL, respectively. TET potentiates the MP immunosuppressive pharmacodynamics and thus, it was possible to use the combination of MP and TET to attenuate MP side effects. There were significant correlations between the IC values of TET and stimulation indices (P=0.04, r=.58), the IC values of TET and the haemodialysis periods (P=0.04, r=.57), or the IC values of MP combined with 0.3 nmol/L TET and C-reactive protein concentrations (P=0.04, r=.64), respectively.

Disporopsis pernyi (Hua) Diels, which belongs to genus Disporopsis, has been widely used for the treatment of abnormal sweating, chronic cough, and so forth. An ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) analysis was developed for the determination of rutin, luteolin, quercetin, and betulinic acid in Disporopsis pernyi (Hua) Diels roots. UPLC analysis was conducted by using a Shim-pack XR-ODS column with gradient elution with the mobile phase of acetonitrile and water containing 0.1% formic acid and with a flow rate of 0.2 mL/min, detected at 210, 254, and 280 nm. The method was precise, with relative standard deviation < 2.0%. The recoveries for the four components in Disporopsis pernyi (Hua) Diels were between 98.5 and 100.9%. The average contents of rutin, luteolin, quercetin, and betulinic acid in roots were 5.63, 2.51, 3.87, and 2.41 μg/g, respectively. The method was accurate and reproducible and it can provide a quantitative basis for quality control of Disporopsis pernyi (Hua) Diels.