Treatment of allergic rhinitis with a mixed Chinese herbal formula via regulatory B cells: A prospective pilot study

IF 3.9 3区医学 Q1 INTEGRATIVE & COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE

Journal of Traditional and Complementary Medicine Pub Date : 2025-11-01 Epub Date: 2024-11-17 DOI:10.1016/j.jtcme.2024.11.007

Pei-Yu Hsu , Yi-Chiu Li , Jung-Chun Chiu , Chia-Yu Yang , Sien-Hung Yang

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background and aim

Mixed Chinese herbal formulas (CHFs) are commonly prescribed for allergic rhinitis (AR), but few studies explore their mechanisms. Prior research highlighted the immunomodulatory effects of a specific mixed CHF (Xin-yi-san + Xiao-qing-long-tang + Xiang-sha-liu-jun-zi-tang) in perennial AR by targeting neutrophils, dendritic cells, and CD4⁺ T lymphocytes. Here, we aimed to investigate the immunomodulatory mechanisms of mixed CHFs in treating AR by examining their effects on regulatory B (Breg) cells as a novel therapeutic approach.

Experimental procedure

In this 3-month prospective pilot study, we assessed the immunomodulatory effect of a mixed CHF on patients with perennial AR, comparing the high-IgE (H-IgE; total serum IgE ≥200 IU/mL) and low-IgE (L-IgE; total serum IgE <200 IU/mL) groups. We measured the percentage of Breg cells and expression of CD1d, CD80 and CD86 using flow cytometry after the stimulation of B cells with CHF treatment. We also investigated the effects of mixed CHFs on cytokine expression by co-culturing Breg cells with CD4⁺CD25⁻ T cells from perennial AR patients.

Results

Forty-nine perennial AR patients enrolled, divided into H-IgE and L-IgE groups. Eight patients withdrew and the remaining 41 patients were included in the final analysis. Mixed CHF treatment elevated Breg cell percentages and their surface marker levels, leading to alterations in the cytokine spectra within the co-culture system of Breg cells and T cells from perennial AR patients in the H-IgE group.

Conclusion

The results revealed that mixed CHFs exerted immunomodulatory mechanisms through the Breg cells to inhibit allergic reactions in the H-IgE group.

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调节性B细胞对中药复方治疗变应性鼻炎的影响：一项前瞻性先导研究

背景与目的中药复方是治疗变应性鼻炎（AR）的常用处方，但对其作用机制的探讨较少。先前的研究强调了一种特异性混合CHF（心益散+小清龙汤+香沙柳军子汤）通过靶向中性粒细胞、树突状细胞和CD4+ T淋巴细胞对多年生AR的免疫调节作用。在这里，我们旨在通过研究混合CHFs作为一种新的治疗方法对调节性B （Breg）细胞的影响，来研究混合CHFs治疗AR的免疫调节机制。在这项为期3个月的前瞻性前期研究中，我们比较了高IgE组（H-IgE；血清总IgE≥200 IU/mL）和低IgE组（L-IgE；血清总IgE≤200 IU/mL），评估了混合CHF对多年性AR患者的免疫调节作用。我们用流式细胞术检测B细胞经CHF刺激后Breg细胞的百分比和CD1d、CD80和CD86的表达。我们还通过将多年生AR患者的Breg细胞与CD4+CD25−T细胞共培养，研究了混合CHFs对细胞因子表达的影响。结果纳入49例常年性AR患者，分为H-IgE组和L-IgE组。8例患者退出，其余41例患者纳入最终分析。混合CHF治疗提高了多年生AR患者的Breg细胞百分比及其表面标记物水平，导致H-IgE组Breg细胞和T细胞共培养系统内细胞因子谱的改变。结论混合CHFs通过Breg细胞抑制H-IgE组的过敏反应，发挥免疫调节作用。

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来源期刊

Journal of Traditional and Complementary Medicine Medicine-Complementary and Alternative Medicine

CiteScore

9.30

自引率

6.70%

发文量

审稿时长

66 days

期刊介绍： eJTCM is committed to publish research providing the biological and clinical grounds for using Traditional and Complementary Medical treatments as well as studies that demonstrate the pathophysiological and molecular/biochemical bases supporting the effectiveness of such treatments. Review articles are by invitation only. eJTCM is receiving an increasing amount of submission, and we need to adopt more stringent criteria to select the articles that can be considered for peer review. Note that eJTCM is striving to increase the quality and medical relevance of the publications.