Unsei-in inhibits rheological activity of leukocytes: mechanism of action in neutrophil-related skin diseases

Am J Chin Med. 1995;23(1):81-90. doi: 10.1142/S0192415X95000110.

Abstract

To investigate the efficacy of Unsei-in on skin diseases such as Behçet's disease, palmoplantar pustulosis and psoriasis vulgaris, the rheological activity of leukocytes as manifested by adhesiveness, deformability and aggregability was studied in vitro using a micropore filtration method. Unsei-in inhibited the rheological activity of leukocytes at a statistical significance of p < 0.01 in normal individuals whose leukocytes had been stimulated with N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (FMLP). It did not, however, inhibit the activity of cells that had not been stimulated by FMLP. In contrast, in Behçet's disease, Unsei-in inhibited rheological activity of non-stimulated leukocytes (p < 0.01) but did not inhibit the rheological activity of FMLP-stimulated leukocytes. In a study using Ouren-gedoku-to and Shimotsu-to, the main constituents of Unsei-in, the latter inhibited the activity of FMLP-stimulated leukocytes in normal individuals (p < 0.02). These results indicate that Unsei-in has an inhibitory effect on rheologically-activated neutrophils, which are involved in the healing mechanisms of the above skin diseases, and it also has a satisfactory effect in the form of a mixture of Shimotsu-to and Ouren-gedoku-to.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Drugs, Chinese Herbal / therapeutic use*
  • Filtration
  • Humans
  • Leukocytes / drug effects*
  • Middle Aged
  • N-Formylmethionine Leucyl-Phenylalanine / pharmacology
  • Neutrophils / drug effects*
  • Rheology / drug effects
  • Skin Diseases / drug therapy*
  • Time Factors

Substances

  • Drugs, Chinese Herbal
  • N-Formylmethionine Leucyl-Phenylalanine