探討氣喘病人在接受中藥治療前後體內Th1/Th2比例和細胞素製造及血中發炎物質濃度差異

郭敏玲
長庚醫院
氣喘是一種慢性的呼吸道疾病，也是目前影響國人尤其是兒童健康的主要疾病之一。雖然西方醫學已對此疾病有許多深入的研究，且發展出不少治療方式，但常無法根治或有副作用。

本計畫主要配合中醫臨床診斷和辨證，以分子免疫學的方法，有系統的評估用於治療寒喘及熱喘的小青龍湯及定喘湯兩種科學中藥，對病人體內免疫反應、發炎物質及主導氣喘過敏反應的T輔助細胞，在治療前後的變化。其中因血清中IgE及嗜酸性白血球之eosinophil cationic protein(ECP)、組織胺（histamine）的濃度，常和急性發作相關。而由西方醫學近年的研究，又得知Th2分泌的IL-5細胞素又和eosinophil的分化、成熟有關。所以本計畫第一即評估在發作時，寒熱喘之間，病人血中IgE、ECP或histamine濃度是否有所不同，另外我們也將使用細胞內染色配合細胞流式儀的方法，來檢測T輔助細胞中Th1/Th2的比例。再則，經服用中藥後，這些因子的變化情形是值得注意的。另外經活化後細胞培養液中細胞素的表現也可用來檢測T輔助細胞中Th1/Th2的分布。而在體外實驗部份，也可以直接觀察中藥萃取物對活化之周邊血球細胞中，細胞素基因表現的影響。此一研究模式，可增進對小青龍湯或定喘湯在治療氣喘時，其作用機制的了解。 
關鍵字：中藥、氣喘、發炎物質、T細胞、細胞素

The change of Th1/Th2 ratio, cytokine production, and inflammatory factors in the asthmatic patients treated with Chinese herb.

Ming-Ling Kuo
Chang Gung Memory Hospital
Traditional Chinese medicines (TCM) have been used in the treatment of airway diseases including bronchial asthma. According to Chinese medical practice, acute asthma symptoms are usually divided into two types and use different combination of herb to treat the patients. In this study, we will analyze the immune responses in the patients with these two types before and after the treatment. We choose two popular Chinese medicines, Hsiou-Ching-Long-Tang and Din-Chung-Tang, for each type of acute asthma symptoms. A number of cytokines and inflammatory mediators have been shown to be involved in the initiation of airway hypersensitivity. Serum IgE, eosinophil cationic protein (ECP), and histamine are the inflammation factors related to the onset of asthma. Recent reports indicated that the Th2-type cytokines can enhance IgE production, promote the differentiation, maturation, survival, and recruitment of eosinophils to the airway. We will examine the serum levels of those inflammatory fact
關鍵字：Chinese medicine, asthma, inflammatory factors, T helper cells, cytokine