In VivoEvaluation of the Antiasthmatic, Antitussive, and Expectorant Activities and Chemical Components of ThreeElaeagnusLeaves

Abstract

The leaf ofElaeagnus lanceolataandElaeagnus henryias well asElaeagnus pungenshas been documented as an effective herb for the treatment of asthma and chronic bronchitis in traditional clinical medicine. This study was aimed at evaluating the antiasthmatic, antitussive, and expectorant activities of the water extracts from the three plantsin vivoand analyzing their chemical components by HPLC-DAD. At the medium and high doses, the water extracts of threeElaeagnusleaves significantly prolonged the preconvulsive time (P< 0.01) in guinea pigs, lengthened the latent period of cough (P< 0.01) and decreased the cough frequency caused by aqueous ammonia in mice (P< 0.01), and enhanced tracheal phenol red output in mice (P< 0.01). There were no significant differences in the pharmacological actions between the threeElaeagnusleaves. Moreover, there was more similarity on overlap peaks in the range of retention time from 10 to 40 min by HPLC and many peaks that belonged to flavonoids compounds. It suggested that the main constituents of the threeElaeagnusleaves were flavonoid for the pharmacological activities. These effects were the important evidence for the traditional use ofE. henryileaf andE. lanceolataleaf as well asE. pungensto treat asthma and chronic bronchitis.