The Pungent and Hot Chinese Herbs Cause Heat Syndrome in Rats by Affecting the Regulatory T Cells

De-Hong Wu; Li Xu; Guan-Qun Xie; Yong-Sheng Fan; Jia Zhou

doi:10.1155/2019/9824906

The Pungent and Hot Chinese Herbs Cause Heat Syndrome in Rats by Affecting the Regulatory T Cells

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2019 Jul 9:2019:9824906. doi: 10.1155/2019/9824906. eCollection 2019.

Authors

De-Hong Wu¹, Li Xu², Guan-Qun Xie², Yong-Sheng Fan², Jia Zhou²

Affiliations

¹ The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, 318 Chaowang Road, Hangzhou 310005, Zhejiang, China.
² College of Basic Medical Sciences, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, 548 Binwen Road, Hangzhou 310053, Zhejiang, China.

Abstract

Heat syndrome is a folk saying in China, which is used to describe people with symptoms such as aphtha, oral ulcer, glossitis, swelling and aching of gingiva, and dry eye. Aconitum carmichaelii Debx. (A), Zingiber officinale Rosc. (Z), and Cinnamomum cassia Presl (C) are the representatives of pungent and hot Chinese herbs which may cause heat syndrome. In order to explore the mechanism of pungent herbs-induced heat syndrome, rats were treated with AZC extracts at different concentrations and at different time periods. A series of cytokines were determined using the cytokine antibody array; some immunosuppressive cytokines, including TGF-β, IL-10, and IL-35, significantly increased in AZC group as compared with control group. Higher mRNA expressions of Foxp3, TGF-β, IL-10, and IL-35 were found in the spleen and thymus of rats after treatment for 18 days based on RT-PCR. Flow cytometry result revealed that the percentage of CD4⁺CD25⁺ Treg cells and Foxp3⁺CD4⁺CD25⁺ Treg cells in spleen lymphocytes showed an increasing trend from the 3^rd day to the 18^th day after treatment with middle dose of AZC extracts. It is speculated that extracts of AZC herbs may affect the development of heat syndrome by influencing Treg cells and immunosuppressive cytokines.