Biotite-Calx Based Traditional Indian Medicine Sahastraputi-Abhrak-Bhasma Prophylactically Mitigates Allergic Airway Inflammation in a Mouse Model of Asthma by Amending Cytokine Responses

Purpose: Asthma is a heterogeneous airway inflammatory disease with limited therapeutic options. Traditional medicine is extensively used for treating various ailments including asthma. Sahastraputi-Abhrak-Bhasma (SPAB) is a biotite-calx based Indian medicine. Methods: We have tested for the anti-inflammatory and anti-asthmatic properties of SPAB, using a mouse model of ovalbumin-induced allergic asthma in-vivo and cell-based assays in-vitro. Histological analysis, qPCR and ELISA were performed to assess the pathology. SEM, EDX and XRD-analysis were performed to characterize the SPAB particles. Results: SEM, EDX and XRD-analysis identified the presence of SPAB particle of 100 nm-similar to 1 mu m diameter and contains annite-1M, aluminium silicate, kyanite, aluminium oxide, magnesium silicate, and maghemite in the samples. Ova-challenge resulted in severe inflammatory responses, airway remodelling and increased oxidative burden in lungs. Importantly, prophylactic treatment with SPAB significantly attenuated allergen induced leukocyte infiltration specifically eosinophils, lymphocytes, macrophages and neutrophils in BALF. Ova-induced mucus hypersecretion, peri-bronchial collagen deposition, inflammatory cell infiltration and bronchial epithelial thickening were significantly abrogated upon SPAB treatment. qPCR and ELISA analysis identified that allergen induced increases in IL-5, IL-13, IL-33, IFN-gamma and IL-1 beta cytokines mRNA in whole lungs and the levels of IL-6, IL-1 beta and TNF-alpha proteins in BALF were significantly attenuated upon oral SPAB treatment. SPAB restored allergen induced decreases in anti-oxidant markers in lungs. In-vitro, SPAB attenuated the secretion of IL-6, and TNF-alpha from human bronchial epithelial cells and modestly inhibited NF-kB/AP-1 pathway in HEK cells. Conclusion: Taken together, our results experimentally validated the prophylactic ameliorative potential of the Indian classical medicine Sahastrapufi-Abhrak-Bhasma against asthma associated airway inflammation.

Automated summary

The study demonstrated the prophylactic and ameliorative potential of the Indian classical medicine Sahastrapufi-Abhrak-Bhasma against asthma associated airway inflammation, significantly reducing allergen-induced inflammatory responses and airway remodeling.