Identifying Core Herbal Treatments for Children with Asthma: Implication from a Chinese Herbal Medicine Database in Taiwan

Table 4

Possible pharmacological mechanisms of CHM frequently used for asthmatic children.

CHM	Active ingredients	Possible mechanisms	References
Single herb (SH)
Zhe Bei Mu	Ethanol extract	Decreases serum IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-alpha and inhibits MAPK pathway	[38]
Xing Ren	Aqueous extract	Inhibits type 2 T-helper cell	[39]
Jie Geng	Aqueous extract	Decreases serum IgE, ROS scavenger	[40]
	Saponin	Decreases Syk-dependent cascades and inhibits downstream MAPK, Akt pathway	[41]
	Ethanol extract	Decreases serum IL-6, prostaglandin D2, leukotriene C4, beta-hexosaminidase, and COX-2 protein	[42]
Huang Qin	Skullcapflavone II	Bradykinin antagonist, decreases type 2 T-helper cells and increases transforming growth factor-beta 1	[43]
	Ethanol extract	Restores serum IL-8 and TNF-α and inhibits MAPK expression	[44]
Yu Xing Cao	Ethanol extract	Suppresses Th2 responses decreases subsequent expression of IL-4 and thymus and activation-regulated chemokine	[45]
Gan Cao	Flavonoid	Inhibits secretion of eotaxin-1 and decreases eosinophil recruitment in asthmatic airway	[46]
		Prevents eosinophil cationic protein interaction	[47]
		Suppresses memory Th2 cells, decreases serum IL-4, IL-13, and increases IFN-gamma	[48]
Sang Bai Pi	Water extract	Suppresses Th2 cell and enhances regulatory T cells	[49]
Qian Hu	(±)-Praeruptorin A	Relieves airway inflammation, airway hyperresponsiveness, and remodeling via suppressing Th2 cell	[50, 51]
Kuan Dong Hua	Water extract	Antitussive effect	[52]
	Chlorogenic acid, 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid, and rutin
Herbal formula (HF)
Ma-Xing-Gan-Shi-Tang (MXGST)		Antitussive effect	[21]
		Beta-2 androgenic effect	[20]
Xiao-Qing-Long-Tang (XQLT)		Relieves airway inflammation, remodeling, and immunomodulation, via downregulating IL-10, IL-13, RANTES, Eotaxin, and MCP-1	[26]
		Anti-inflammatory effect, decreasing IgE titer in bronchial lavage fluid.	[25]
		Suppresses histamine signaling	[36]
		Suppresses Th2 cell, decreasing IL-4 and IL-5, restoring IFN-gamma	[34, 35]
		Bronchial dilation, partial beta-2 androgenic effect	[53]
Mai-Men-Dong-Tang		Antitussive effect	[54]
		Bronchial dilation via beta-2 androgenic effect	[55]