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Liuweibuqi capsules suppress inflammation by affecting T cell polarization and survival in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

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Abstract

CD4+ T cells are involved in the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Our studies sought to observe the effect of Liuweibuqi capsule, a traditional Chinese medicine, on the polarization and survival of CD4+ T cells. In this study, changes in symptoms and lung histology were observed. CD4+ T cell subsets in different groups were evaluated by flow cytometry. The expression levels of Foxp3, interleukin-4, interferon-γ, and interleukin-17 were detected by western blot. Cell Counting Kit-8 method and flow cytometry were used to measure cell proliferation and apoptosis. The results showed that we found Liuweibuqi capsule reduced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease-induced lung tissue damage and lung function loss in a dose-dependent manner. Besides, the percentages of Th1 and Th17 cells were increased in the rats with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, while the percentages of Th2 and Treg cells were decreased in the rats with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. However, these effects were blocked by Liuweibuqi capsule. In addition, Liuweibuqi capsule reduced the expression levels of interferon-γ and interleukin-17 and enhanced the expression levels of Foxp3 and interleukin-4 in the CD4+ T cells. Moreover, after Liuweibuqi medicated serum treatment, the proliferation of CD4+ T cells was significantly higher while cell apoptosis were dramatically lower than that in MC group. In conclusion, Liuweibuqi capsules reduced inflammation by affecting CD4+ T cell polarization and survival in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81573942).

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Correspondence to Chengyang Wang.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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All procedures performed in studies involving animals were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institution or practice at which the studies were conducted.

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Wang, C., Ding, H., Tang, X. et al. Liuweibuqi capsules suppress inflammation by affecting T cell polarization and survival in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Med Chem Res 26, 2816–2823 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00044-017-1980-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00044-017-1980-0

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