Inhibitory Effect of n-butanol Fraction of Moringa oleifera Lam. Seeds on Ovalbumin-Induced Airway Inflammation in a Guinea Pig Model of Asthma

Abstract

Moringaceae, which belongs to the Moringa oleifera Lam. family, is a well-known herb used in Asian medicine as an antiallergic drug. In the present study, the efficacy of the n-butanol extract of the seeds of the plant (MONB) is examined against ovalbumin-induced airway inflammation in guinea pigs. The test drugs (MONB or dexamethasone) are administered orally prior to challenge with aerosolized 0.5% ovalbumin. During the experimental period, bronchoconstriction tests are performed, and lung function parameters are measured. The blood and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid are collected to assess cellular content, and serum is used for cytokine (tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-4, and interleukin-6) assays. Histamine assays of lung tissue are performed using lung tissue homogenate. The results suggest that in ovalbumin-sensitized model control animals, tidal volume is decreased, respiration rate is increased, and both the total and differential cell counts in blood and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid are increased significantly compared with nonsensitized controls. MONB treatment shows improvement in all parameters except bronchoalveolar lavage tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-4. Moreover, MONB treatment demonstrates protection against acetylcholine-induced bronchoconstriction and airway inflammation. These results indicate that MONB has an inhibitory effect on airway inflammation. Thus, MONB possesses an antiasthmatic property through modulation of the relationship between Th1/Th2 cytokine imbalances.

Moringa Tea Blocks Acute Lung Inflammation Induced by Swine Confinement Dust Through a Mechanism Involving TNF-α Expression, C-Jun N-Terminal Kinase Activation and Neutrophil Regulation

“…4). This is consistent with a previous report by (Mahajan et al, 2009) using a model of ovalbumin-induced airway-inflammation that showed extracts from Moringa seeds improved total differential cell counts in blood and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, but not levels of TNF-α (Mahajan et al, 2009). More recently, a study by (Kooltheat et al, 2014) was published evaluating the effect of an ethyl acetate fraction of Moringa (MOEF) prepared from fresh leaves on cytokine production by human macrophages exposed to cigarette smoke extract.…”

Farm animal models of organic dust exposure and toxicity

“…In a recent study by our group, Moringa olifera Lam leaf extract – a medicinal plant rich in vitamins, including vitamin D [122] -- reduced acute lung inflammation mediated by intranasal exposure to ODE in mice that consumed water supplemented with moringa compared to control mice that drank water [123*]. The study showed mice that drank moringa tea had fewer cells present in bronchoalveolar lavage, despite having higher ODE-driven TNF-α levels, a finding that is consistent with observations of Mahajan et al [124] in which a moringa seed extract decreased bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) cell counts, but did not affect TNF-α levels in guinea pigs exposed to aerosolized ovalbumin [124]. Consumption of a vitamin D (1,25 hydroxyvitamin D) rich diet decreased production of neutrophil chemoattractants – chemokine (C-X-C) ligand 1 and CXCL2 – and neutrophil infiltration in mice exposed to ODE compared to control mice that received standard rodent chow, or a relatively low vitamin D diet, prior to ODE exposure [125**].…”

Peritoneal Mast Cell Stabilization and Free radical Scavenging activity of Yucca gloriosa L

“…Ayurvedic drugs having a great interest for consideration in asthma were subjected to clinical studies based on their effects in experimental studies. 20 Due to this consideration, the present study is focused in the direction of healing allergic asthma by herbal medicine.…”