From BU’s web site:
BUSM researchers using a traditional Korean medicine, SO-CHEONG–RYONG–TANG (SCRT) that has long been used for the treatment of allergic diseases in Asia, found that SCRT treatment alleviates asthma-like pulmonary inflammation via suppression of specific chemokines or proteins. These findings appear online in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology… "
The researchers found SCRT treatment significantly reduced airway hyper-reactivity as measured by both whole body plethysmography and direct measurement of airway resistance. The researchers report that the immune response of pulmonary inflammation was significantly inhibited by SCRT treatment as demonstrated by reduced plasma IgE antibody levels and improved lung histology. SCRT significantly reduced the number of neutrophils in the bronchoalveolar (BAL) fluid and also significantly reduced the BAL levels of CXC chemokines both expressed as part of the immune response, providing a potential mechanism for the reduced inflammation.
This study was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the Oriental Medicine R&D Project of the Ministry of Health & Welfare of the Republic of Korea.