Lin Zhao, Shuai Tan, Hai Zhang, Peng Liu, Yu-Zhu Tan, Jia-Chuan Li, Da Jia, Xiao-Fei Shen
Astragalus polysaccharides (APS), one of the major active components in Astragalus membranaceus, is an effective immunomodulator used in the treatment of immunological diseases in China. However, the anti-infective action and mechanism of APS is not fully known. In the present study, we found that APS induced the expression of human cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide LL-37, a key host anti-infective molecule, in both mRNA and protein levels in respiratory epithelial cells HBE16 and A549. Furthermore, the lysate and supernatant from APS-treated HBE16 cells both exhibited an obvious antibacterial action, which was partially neutralizated by LL-37 monoclonal antibody...
April 19, 2018: Phytotherapy Research: PTR