Aim. We aimed to investigate and evaluate the preventive activity of puerarin on the ovalbumin-induced asthma rat model. Materials and Methods. Male Wistar rats were sensitized intraperitoneally on days 0, 7, and 14 and challenged to ovalbumin intratracheally on day 21. Groups of sensitized rats were treated randomly either with placebo, puerarin, dexamethasone, or puerarin combined with dexamethasone, from days 15 to 20. Inflammatory markers, including cell counts in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), inflammatory cytokines, histopathology, and coagulation parameters, such as coagulation tests and the activity of coagulation factors, were analyzed. Results. Puerarin significantly inhibited the recruitment of inflammatory cells in BALF and lung tissue. At the same time, the release of IL-4, IL-10, and IFN-γ in serum and the expression of mRNAs in lung tissue homogenate were changed by puerarin. Administration of puerarin also effectively rectified the coagulation disorder in asthmatic rats, such as prothrombin time (PT) ( ), thrombin time (TT) ( ), fibrinogen (FIB) ( ), the activity of factor II (FII) ( ), the activity of factor V (FV) ( ), the activity of factor VII (FVII) ( ), the activity of factor X (FX) ( ), the activity of factor VIII (FVIII) ( ), the activity of factor IX (FIX) ( ), and the activity of factor XII (FXII) ( ). Conclusions. Our results provide a clue that puerarin was useful for the preventive of allergic airway disease in rodents. 1. Introduction Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterised by eosinophilic infiltration, airway hyperresponsiveness, and structural remodeling [1–3], along with hemostatic unbalance [4, 5]. Asthma morbidity and mortality have been increasing in recent decades [6–8]. Currently, there is no direct effective therapy for asthma, only symptomatic treatment. Asthma cannot be completely healed or cured and thus needs continuous medical treatment [9]. At present, inhaled corticosteroids and -2-agonists are used as the first line of treatment of asthma for reducing airway inflammation and bronchial constriction [10, 11]. Furthermore, relapse after therapy withdrawal is common [12], and the effects of these drugs are not always satisfactory in clinical practice because of local or systemic side effects [13–15]. On the other hand, although corticosteroids improve asthma symptoms, they do not alter the progression of asthma or cure the disease [16]. Thus, new or alternative approaches are being tried to the control of asthma.
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