Effect of tripterygium polyglucoside on T-lymphocyte subsets and serum interleukin-5 level in asthma patients

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the therapeutic mechanism of Tripterygium polyglucoside (TII) in treating asthma patients. METHODS: Thirty asthma patients of middle or sever leoel were selected and randomly divided into three groups, Group A treated with TII, Group B treated with prednisone and Group C, the control group. Their peripheral CD4+, CD8+ T-lymphocytes were counted by flow cytometer and serum interleukin-5 (IL-5) level determined by ELISA before and after 4 weeks' treatment. RESULTS: In Group A, after treatment, CD4+ T-lymphocytes reduced from 0.462 +/- 0.035 to 0.426 +/- 0.039 (P < 0.01), CD8+ increased from 0.201 +/- 0.045 to 0.253 +/- 0.043 (P < 0.01), and serum IL-5 median concentration reduced from 65.3 ng/L to 10.9 ng/L (P < 0.01). Similar results was revealed in Group B, while there was insignificant change of the parameters in Group C. The serum concentration of IL-5 was positively correlated with the peripheral CD4+ count (r = 0.61, P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: TII is highly effective in treating asthma through regulating T-lymphocyte subset disorder and inhibiting production of IL-5.