Clinical Study Effect of Traditional Chinese Medicine on Inflammatory Mediators in Pediatric Asthma, Mediators of Inflammation Volume 2016, Article ID 5143703

A randomized, single-blind controlled study conducted at a children’s hospital in Shanghai, China, and published in 2016 examined the effect of astragalus root on inflammatory markers compared with drug treatment.

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease involving various immune cells and cytokines.

The study included 182 children with asthma divided into two groups. Group A (97 participants) took 2.8 grams of astragalus root powder daily. Group B (85 participants) received combined salbutamol (Ventolin) and montelukast (Singulair) treatment for 12 weeks.

Blood levels of inflammatory markers interleukin-10, interleukin-17, MMP-9 and TGF-beta 1 were measured at the beginning and end of the study.

Results:

Some inflammatory markers decreased in both groups by the end of the study. No statistical differences in inflammatory markers were observed between the groups at study completion. The astragalus group showed reductions in inflammatory values similar to the drug-treatment group.

Study conclusion:

Astragalus reduces levels of inflammatory markers characteristic of asthma, similarly to drug treatment.

Leave a Reply