Inhibitory Effect of Polysaccharide Fraction from Cortex Mori on Compound 48/80-Induced Mast Cell Activation

Kang, Kyoung Jin; Lee, Moo Sam; Ryu, Young Geun; Chai, Ok Hee; Lee, Jeong Young

Abstract

Cortex mori (Morus alba L.: Sangbaikpi), the root bark of mulberry tree, has been used as an antiphlogistic, diuretic, and expectorant in herbal medicine. Previous studies have demonstrated that the phenolic extract of Cortex mori have hypotensive, hypoglycemic, antifungal, antiviral, antiinflammatory, and anticancer effects, and the hot water extract from Cortex mori has inhibitory effects on compound 48/80- induced mast cell degranulation and histamine release from rat peritoneal mast cells (RPMCs). This study was perforrned to investigate the effects of polysaccharide fraction from Cortex mori (PFCM) on compound 48/80-induced degranulation, histamine release, calcium influx, changes of intracellular cAMP and cGMP level, and morphological changes of RPMCs. The results were summarized as follows. 1) Compound 48/80-induced cytomorphological changes such as swelling, degranulation, intracellular vacuoles, and interrupted cell boundary were significantly inhibited by pretreatment with either hot water or polysaccaride fractions frorn Cortex mori (PFCM), 2) the compound 48/80-induced histamine release from RPMCs pretreated with PFCM was significantly inhibited, compared to that of control without PFCM pretreatment, 3) the PFCM inhibited remarkably the compound 48/80-induced calcium influx into the RPMCs, 4) the PFCM increased significantly the intracellular cAMP levels and decreased the intracellular cGMP levels of RPMCs, compared to those of normal control, and 5) the compound 48/80-induced cAMP levels of RPMCs pretreated with PFCM were significantly increased, compared to those of positive control without PFCM, and the compound 48/80-induced cGMP levels of RPMCs pretreated with PFCM were remarkably decreased, compared to those of positive control without PFCM. From the above results, it is suggested that PFCM have an activity to inhibit the compound 48/80-induced mast cell activation.