Gang Cheng, Takashi Ueda, Fukiko Eda, Syunichi Kinjyo, Hirokazu Nakajima, Yoshiki Ishii and Takeshi Fukuda
Department of Pulmonary Medicine and Clinical Immunology, Dokkyo University School of Medicine, Mibu-machi, Shimotsuga-gun, Tochigi 321-0293, Japan
*Corresponding author. FAX: +81-282-86-5080, E-mail: cheng@dokkyomed.ac.jp
Abstract: Tranilast has long been used clinically to treat allergic diseases such as bronchial asthma. To further clarify the antiinflammatory machanism, we examined the ability of tranilast to counteract the prolongation of eosinophil survival induced by interleukin (IL)-5. Tranilast reduced the IL-5 prolonged survival of eosinophils at the concentration range of 30 mg/ml to 100 mg/ml. The DNA extracted from eosinophils cultured with tranilast showed signs of fragmentation that was comparable with apoptosis. Electron-microscopic analysis of activated eosinophils cultured with 100 mg/ml of tranilast also revealed morphologic features of apoptosis. These data suggest that tranilast may act in vivo on activated eosinophils to reduce inflammation in allergic diseases.
Keywords: Tranilast, Eosinophil, Apoptosis
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