ASHMI (Anti-Asthma Herbal Medicine Intervention) prevents maternal transmission of early onset of allergic airway inflammation and mucus cell development in offspring

Abstract

[Rationale]: Maternal asthma has been described as a risk factor for asthma development in children. ASHMI has shown effectiveness in asthmatics in a control clinical trial. We hypothesized treating asthmatic mothers with ASHMI before pregnancy would reduce the risk of allergic airway disease in mice. [Methods]: Female BALB/c mice were sensitized intraperitoneally twice with ovalbumin (OVA) and alum followed by 3 weekly intra tracheal challenges with OVA. Allergic airway responses were determined. These asthmatic mothers (AS-M) were treated with ASHMI (AS-M/ASHMI) for 6 weeks. Controls were untreated (AS-M/None). Naïve mothers (Naive-M) were used as additional controls. Mice were then mated with normal males. Twelve day old offspring from each group received 3 consecutive daily intranasal (i.n.) OVA challenges. Two days later offspring were sacrificed and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and lung histology were performed. Serum OVA antibodies and cytokine profiles were also determined. [Results]: Two days following the third i.n. challenge, total numbers of BAL macrophages, eosinophils, lymphocytes, and neutrophils in AS-M/none offspring were significantly higher than in BAL of Naive-M offspring. AS-M/none offspring also contained many airway mucus cells. In contrast, BAL cells from AS-M/ASHMI offspring were essentially the same as Naïve-M offspring, and no mucus cells were present. Furthermore, AS-M/ASHMI offspring showed higher ratios of OVA-specific IgG2a vs IgG1 and Con A stimulated splenocyte production of IFN-γ vs IL-4, IL5 and IL13. [Conclusions]: Offspring from asthmatic mothers developed allergic airway responses in response to OVA challenge without prior systemic sensitization. This predisposition can be reduced by a maternal treatment with ASHMI before conception