• CELLMED
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.3.1-3.5
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• 2019

Bronchial asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases globally and currently affects approximately 300 million people worldwide. As per scientific data, approximately 10-12% of adults; and 15% of children are affected by the disease. The increasing global prevalence of the disease imposes a high health care costs into its mechanisms and treatment. Unani system of medicine (USM) is a well known traditional therapy for number of diseases since ancient times. Time has proved that USM has a special role in treatment of chronic diseases, due its special Usooleillaj (Line of treatment). Dhiq al-Nafas (bronchial asthma) is also considered as a chronic disease. Since ancient times, the disease was cured by number of single as well as compound formulations by renowned Unani scholars. This review provides a comprehensive summary of medicinal plant throughout the world, with reference to renowned Unani scholars and physicians for treatment of Dhiq al-Nafas. A number of Unani single and compound drugs, highly efficacious and safe drugs are available for the asthma. The data were taken from classical literature of USM, Modern reference books & electronic journals. The recent information was collected from different authentic search engines. This review will provide the centuries therapeutic information's of classical literature and recent scientific studies of 12 herbal drugs mentioned in USM, which will help the academia, clinicians, research scholars and post graduate students from Unani Medicine, Traditional & Complementary Medicine and other related disciplines, having research interest or work in the Unani medicine.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.69 no.6
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• pp.411-417
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• 2010

This review highlights articles pertaining to the following 5 topics: the relationship between asthma, allergic and non-allergic rhinitis; the novel asthma phenotypes using cluster analysis; the diagnostic properties of inhaled dry-powder mannitol for the diagnosis of asthma; the value of mepolizumab therapy in exacerbations of refractory eosinophilic asthma; the role of bronchial thermoplasty in the treatment of severe asthma.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.198-204
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• 2004

Backgrounds & Methods : Asthma is considered to be chronic inflammatory disease characterized by airway hyperresponsiveness and pulmonary eosinophilia. Recently, there has been many researches about asthma. IBS(Irritable Bowel Syndrome), PUD(peptic Ulcer disease) and GERD(gastroesophageal reflux disease) are the most common diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Recent studies suggest that IBS, PUD and GERD are associated with bronchial hyper-responsiveness and bronchial asthma might be more prevalent in IBS and GERD patients than in control subjects. In addition, there are many comments about the interrelationship between the gastrointestinal problem and asthma in the oriental medical books. Actually, many oriental medical doctors don$^{\circ}$Øt consider the gastrointestinal condition when they deal with the asthmatic patients these days. So, we assessed the prevalence of gastrointestinal symptoms and histories in a cohort of patients with asthmatic symptoms. We evaluated 128 outpatients with asthmatic symptoms(60 males and 68 females, aged 13-75). All subjects enrolled completed the GSRS(Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale). GSRS is an interview based rating scale consisting of 15 items for assessment of gastrointestinal symptoms in IBS and PUD developed by Jan Svedlund. Results : The limit of total score of GSRS in asthmatic patients is zero to 30. The number of patients with no GI symptoms is 66(51.5%). The number of patients with GSRS>5 is 62(48.4%), GSRS>10 is 24(18.8%), GSRS>15 is 8(6.25%). The number of patients with history of gastritis is 54(42.2%), gastric ulcer is 13(10.2%), gastroptosis is 8(6.25%), IBS is 6(4.68%), others is 6(4.68%). Conclusions : This study suggests that patients with bronchial asthma have an significant prevalence of gastrointestinal symptoms. Additional studies are needed to find the mechanism of the association between gastrointestinal symptoms and asthma.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.70-77
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• 2002

Background : Asthma is considered to be an inflammatory disease characterized by airway hyperresponsiveness and pulmonary eosinophilia. Production of cytokines by bronchial epithelial cells may contribute to the local accumulation of inflammatory cells in patients with bronchial asthma. In many recent studies molecular biological methods have been used to investigate the role of cytokines in pathogenesis and new therapeutic targets of asthma. Objective : We aimed to identify the effects of Sochongryong-tang on Serum IL-4, IL-5, $IFN-{\gamma}$ in asthmatic patients. Material and Methods: The subjects consisted of 15 patients with asthma who had been treated with Sochongryong-tang for two weeks from February 2001 through June 2001. Sochongryong-tang is an herbal decoction which has traditionally been used as a therapeutic agent for asthma. Results : The serum IL-4 in asthmatic patients was increased significantly compared to the serum IL-4 in the normal control group. However, the serum IL-5, $IFN-{\gamma}$ in asthmatic patients showed no significant difference from the serum IL-5, $IFN-{\gamma}$ in the normal control group. The patients were treated with Sochongryong-tang for two weeks with no significant difference in the serum IL-4, IL-5, and $IFN-{\gamma}$. Conclusion : This study shows that the serum IL-4 may be a new therapeutic target of asthma. Further long-term studies must be made in a larger number of asthmatic patients.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.173-181
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• 1996

Background : Several studies have suggested that impaired mucociliary clearance plays a role in the pathophysiology of bronchial asthma. Cough productive of mucoid sputum is common, and mucous plugs in the airways are frequently observed. These clinical features are in keeping with the histologic lesions of asthma, which involve primarily the epithelial and mucous-producing structures of the conducting airways. Some studies have shown that the mucociliary clearance is impaired in adult asthma, but it has not been studied in childhood asthma. The objectives of this study were to examine whether the mucociliary clearance is impaired in childhood asthma and to estimate the degree of impairment in comparison with that of immotile cilia syndrome. Method : Thirteen children with mild stable asthma and eight patients with immotile cilia syndrome completed this study. Ten healthy children were recruited as a normal control group. The whole-lung mucociliary clearance was measured by the radioaerosol technique. Aerosols, tin colloid particles tagged with the radionuclide technetium-99m($^{99m}Tc$), were generated by means of nebulizer, and inhaled via a mouthpiece. The retention of radioactivity was measured at 30, 60, 90 and 120 minutes by gamma camera, and mucociliary clearance was calculated as percent retention at each time. Results: 1) In each subject, the percent retention decreased variably with the lapse of time. 2) The percent retention of radionuclide decreased at each time in order of normal control, bronchial asthma and immotile cilia syndrome and the percent retention of immotile cilia syndrome was significantly higher than that of normal control at each time(p<0.05). 3) At two hours, the percent retention of bronchial asthma($65.0{\pm}1.8$(SE)%) was significantly higher than that of the normal control($54.4{\pm}3.5%$, p<0.05), and significantly lower than that of immotile cilia syndrome($73.3{\pm}1.4%$, p<0.01). 4) When the percent retention was analyzed according to $PC_{20}$ in the children with bronchial asthma, they had no relationship with each other. Conclusion: Mucociliary clearance in the children with bronchial asthma was significantly lower than normal control. This finding indicates that impaired mucociliary clearance operates in childhood asthma as well, and suggests that it may be one contributing factor in the pathogenesis of asthma. The degree of impairment, however, was not so severe as immotile cilia syndrome.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.26
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• pp.11.1-11.6
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• 2011

Objects: The prevalence of asthma has increased in recent decades globally. The objective of the present study is to elucidate whether hospitalization for bronchiolitis in infancy and low socioeconomic status interact for bronchial hyperreactivity during teenage years. Method: We studied 522 children age 13-14 years attending schools in rural and urban areas to investigate the risk factors for bronchial hyperreactivity (BHR), defined as a provocation concentration of methacholine that causes a decrease of 20% ($PC_{20}$) in forced expiratory volume within 1 second. Clinical examination, skin prick test, spirometry, and methacholine challenge were performed on all study subjects, who provided written consent. We used multivariate logistic regression to investigate the risk factors for BHR, and analyze the interaction between hospitalization for bronchiolitis in infancy and low socioeconomic status. Results: Forty-six (10.3%) positive BHR cases were identified. In the multivariate logistic analysis, as independent predictors of BHR, adjusted odds ratio of bronchiolitis diagnosed before 2 years of age in low income families was 13.7 (95% confidence interval, 1.4 to 135.0), compared to reference group, controlling for age, gender, parental allergy history, skin prick test, and environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure. Interaction was observed between bronchiolitis before 2 years old and low socioeconomic status on children's bronchial hyperreactivity (p-interaction=0.025). Conclusions: This study showed that bronchiolitis diagnosed before 2 years of age and low socioeconomic status interacted on children's bronchial hyperreactivity. Prevention of acute respiratory infection in early childhood in low socioeconomic status is important to prevent BHR as a precursor of asthma.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.58 no.5
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• pp.190-193
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• 2015

Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) is a hypersensitivity lung disease due to bronchial colonization of Aspergillus fumigatus that occurs in susceptible patients with asthma or cystic fibrosis. A 10-year-old girl was referred to the Department of Pediatric Pulmonology for persistent consolidations on chest radiography. Pulmonary consolidations were observed in the right upper and left lower lobes and were not resolved with a 4-week prescription of broad-spectrum antibiotics. The patient had a history of atopic dermatitis and allergic rhinitis but no history of asthma. She had no fever but produced thick and greenish sputum. Her breathing sounds were clear. On laboratory testing, her total blood eosinophil count was $1,412/mm^3$ and total serum IgE level was 2,200 kU/L. Aspergillus was isolated in the sputum culture. The A. fumigatus-specific IgE level was 15.4 kU/L, and the Aspergillus antibody test was also positive. A chest computed tomography scan demonstrated bronchial wall thickening and consolidation without bronchiectasis. An antifungal agent was added but resulted in no improvement of pulmonary consolidations after 3 weeks. Pulmonary function test was normal. Methacholine provocation test was performed, revealing bronchial hyperreactivity ($PC_{20}=5.31mg/mL$). Although the patient had no history of asthma or bronchiectasis, ABPA-seropositivity was suspected. Oral prednisolone (1 mg/kg/day) combined with antifungal therapy was started. Pulmonary consolidations began decreasing after 1 week of treatment and completely resolved after 1 month. This is the first observed and treated case of seropositive ABPA in Korean children without previously documented asthma.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.1593-1597
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• 2006

We hope to evaluate the effects of Gami-Choakwiyeum (GCKY) on the PPAR-${\gamma}$’ in the OVA induced asthma mouse model. Female BALB/c mice, 8 weeks of age and free of murine specific pathogens were used. Mice were sensitized by intraperitoneal injection of OVA emulsified in aluminum hydroxide in a total volume of 200 ${\mu}{\ell}$ on one day and 14 days. On 21, 22, and 23 days after the initial intraperitoneal injection of OVA, the mice were challenged using an ultrasonic nebulizer. GCKY was administered 7 times by oral gavage at 24 hour intervals fromdays 19 after intraperitoneal injection of OVA. Bronchoalveolar lavage was perfromed 72 hours after the last challenge, and total cell numbers in the BAL fluid were counted. Also, the level of PPAR-${\gamma}$ of normal and OVA-induced asthma moused with/without administration of GCKY were measured by Western blot analysis. For the histologic examination, the specimens were stained with hematoxylin 2 and eosin-Y.(H & E). Numbers of total cells were increased significantly at 72 h after OVA inhalation compared with numbers of total cells in the normal and the administration of GCKY. Especially, the increased numbers of eosinophils in BAL fluids after OVA inhalation were significantly increased. However, the numbers of eosinophils reduced by the administration of GCKY. Western blot analysis revealed that PPAR-${\gamma}$ levels in nuclear level were increased slightly after OVA inhalation compared with the levels in the normal group. After the administration of GCKY, PPAR-${\gamma}$ levels in cytosolic and nuclear levels at 72 h after OVA inhalation were markedly increased. On pathologic examination, there were many acute inflammatory cells around the alveoli, bronchioles, and airway lumen of mice with OVA-induced asthma compared with inflammatory cells in the normal group. However, acute inflammatory cells around alveoli, bronchioles, and airway lumen markedly decreased after administration of GCKY, GCKY can increase a PPAR-${\gamma}$ level and could be an effective treatment in asthma patients through the PPAR-${\gamma}$ mechanism for bronchial asthma.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.151-160
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• 2002

Background: Nowadays asthma is considered to be an inflammatory disease characterized by airway hyperresponsiveness and pulmonary eosinophilia. Production of cytokines by bronchial epithelial cells may contribution to the local accumulation of inflammatory cells in patients with bronchial asthma. In many recent studies molecular biological methods have been used to investigate the role of cytokines in pathogenesis and new therapeutic targets of asthma. Objectives: We aimed to identify the clinical effects of Chuongsangboha-tang and the effects of Chuongsangboha-tang on serum cytokines in asthmatic patients. Materials and Methods: The subjects consisted of 36 patients with asthma who had been treated with Chuongsangboha-tang for four weeks. Chuongsangboha-tang is an herbal decoction which has been used of the traditional therapeutic agent of asthma. PFT, Quality of Life Questionnaire for Adult Korean Asthmatics (QLQAKA), blood eosinophil, serum IgE, Serum IL-4, IL-5, IFN- were checked before and 4 weeks after treatments. Results: Treatment with Chuongsangboha-tang for four weeks resulted in significant increase in FEV1.0%, PEFR%, QLQAKA. The blood eosinophil, serum IgE, IL-4 and IL-5 in asthmatic patients increased significantly compared to the normal control group, while the serum IFN-decreased significantly. Conclusions: This study shows that Chuongsangboha-tang has effects on improvement of pulmonary function and quality of life in asthmatic patients. Obviously, further research concerning this is still necessary.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.77 no.6
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• pp.237-242
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• 2014

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airway that comprises a variety of etiologies and inflammatory phenotypes. Clinically, there is a wide range of patients with varying severities and responses to individual drugs. The introduction of inhaled corticosteroid therapy has dramatically changed the treatment of asthma. Recent development of new therapies suggests the possibility of another breakthrough. These can be categorized as follows: anti-cytokine therapies that usually target eosinophilic inflammation, sublingual immunotherapy, and bronchial thermoplasty. In this paper, we will review the major articles related to asthma treatment that were published in 2013.