Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies
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Focus Alternat Complement Ther©2005 Pharmaceutical Press
Focus Altern Complement Ther 1998; 3: 184
A pharmacological profile of the thyme preparation BNO1018 with respect to inflammatory diseases of the airways was established.
All experiments were performed with one batch of the thyme preparation. Paw edema assay was done by injection of 0,5% carrageenin in the hint paw of rats and comparison of the thickness to non-injected paw. Antiviral activity was measured by the plaque reduction assay in soft agar. PGE2 formation by COX from sheep seminal vesicles and from cells of the monocyte-like cell line MM6 was determined by an ELISA.
The antiinflammatory potential of the Thymus vulgaris preparation BNO1018 was shown in the rat paw edema model by dose dependent suppression of the edema when administered orally or i.p. After 3 hours 162 mg/kg BNO1018 were equally effective as 123 mg/kg phenylbutazone. The synthesis of PGE2 was inhibited at the level of the COX enzyme as well as its secretion from cells of the MM6 cell line. The extract revealed antispasmodic activity in the model of the isolated muscle of guinea pig trachea towards spasms induced by Ba++ - ions, histamin, carbachol and PGF2alpha. Influenza A, parainfluenza and respiratory syncytial virus, were inhibited in vitro. Virus spreading was suppressed with RSV being the most sensitive strain with 50 of about 20 µg/ml. The growth of K. pneumoniae, D. pneumoniae and M. catarrhalis was also suppressed as determined by agar diffusion assay. The extract showed activity as an antioxidant in a superoxid radical assay.
BNO1018 reveals a set of complementary pharmacological activities like antiviral, antibacterial, antiinflammatory, antispasmodic and radical scavenging effects, which all may contribute to treat successfully inflammatory diseases of the respiratory tract.
