Inhibition of Adenosine Triphosphate-stimulated Mucin Secretion from Airway Epithelial Cells by Schizandrin

Schizandrae Fructus has been used for controlling respiratory allergic or inflammatory diseases in folk medicine and their components, schizandrin, schizandrin-A and gomisin-A were reported to have diverse biological effects. In this study, we investigated whether schizandrin, schizandrin-A and gomisin-A affect adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-induced mucin secretion from cultured airway epithelial cells. Confluent primary hamster tracheal surface epithelial (HTSE) cells were metabolically radio labeled using $^{3}H-glucosamine$ for 24 h and chased for 30 min in the presence of varying concentrations of each agent to assess the effects on $^{3}H-mucin$ secretion. The results were as follows: 1) schizandrin significantly inhibited ATP-induced mucin secretion; 2) However, schizandrin-A and gomisin-A did not affect ATP-induced mucin secretion, significantly. We conclude that schizandrin can inhibit ATP-induced mucin secretion by directly acting on airway mucin-secreting cells. Therefore, schizandrin should further be investigated for the possible use as mucoregulators in the treatment of inflammatory airway diseases.