Abstract
We obserued that some patients who have a food allergy also have complicated liver disorders. Because Chinese orient medicine may be increasingly beneficial for allergic diseases, this study at tempted to use Saiko-Seikan-Seikan-To to treat murine liver damage based on a food allergy model. Nc/Jic strain mice with high leveis of serum IgE were first sensitized with OVA and then treated with eit her Saiko-Seikan-To or physiologic saline. We organized 4 groups-Group 1 was unsensitized, Group 2 was sensitized and treated with physiologic saline, Groups 3 and 4 were sensitized and treated with low doses (100 mg/kg/day) and high doses (300 mg/kg/day) Saiko-Seikan-To, respectiviely. Pathological and histological studies revealed serum AST levels, serum ALT levels, and cytokine expression of IL-4, IL-6, TNF-α, CD4. The sensitized mice in Group 2 showed significantly elevated serum AST and serum ALT levels compared to the unsensitized mice. In addition, abnormal hepetic morphology indicated liver damage. Group 2 also suffered villous edema in the samll intestine. With the exception of IL-4, the other cytokines and the frequency of multi-nucleated hepatocytes were significantly higher than in the unsensitized group. Consequently, the data suggest that liver damage was present in this food allergy murine model and conclude that Saiko-Seikan-To may modulate this reaction to prevent liver damage caused by food allergies.
