Effects Of Tripterygium Polyglucoside On The Expression Of ICAM-1 And NF-κB In The Bronchioles Of Asthmatic Rats

Background: ICAM-1 plays important roles in the airway imflammation in asthma , especially in the early period .Tripterygium polyglucoside , a traditional agent purified from a Chinese herb Tripterygium wilfordii, was already widely used for the treatment of asthma in clinic . Triptolide can inhibit the expression of ICAM-1 of human bronchial epithelial cells induced by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) in vitro~[1].The transcription factor nuclear factor (NF- k B) is a DNA binding protein which controls the expression of multiple genes involved in immune responses and inflammatory processes such as those encoding proinflammatory cytokines and adhesion molecules [2]Mobiwen's study supports triptolide can inhibit the transcriptional activation of NF- k B in the bronchial epithelial cells in asthmatic guinea pigs [3]. ICAM-1 is one of the NF- k B -regulated genes. The treatment of asthma by triptolide was probably due to its inhibitory effect on the expression of ICAM-1 controlled by NF- k B. Objective : To investigate the effects of tripterygium polyglucoside on...