Objective To evaluate whether Kebiting (KBT, a compound preparation made of three Chinese medicinal herbs) has antitussive, expectorant and anti-asthmatic effect.
Methods Mice and guinea pigs were used to conducted the animal study. Orthogonal experimental design was used to determine the optimal combination components of Brassica alba, Perilla frutescens, and Semen raphani of the KBT. The animals were divided into high, moderate, and low doses of KBT groups, a positive control (treated with Guilongkechuanning, a Chinese patent medicine for the treatment of cough, phlegm, and asthma) and a blank control group. Animal model of cough was established with administration of ammonia and citrate in the mice and guinea pigs and guinea pig asthma model was established with histamine and acetylcholine. Expectorant effect of KBT in mice was observed with phenol red method.
Results The optimal combination of three components of KBT was constructed. The excretion of phenolsulfonphthalein in the mice of all KBT groups was significantly higher than that of the blank control group (P < 0.01); the excretion of phenolsulfonphthalein in the mice with high dose KBT was significantly higher than that of the positive control group (P < 0.01). The latent period of cough was prolonged and the frequency of cough was decreased significantly in all the mice of KBT groups compared with those of the blank control group (both P < 0.01), with a significantly stronger antitussive effect for moderate and high dose of KBT in comparison with positive control treatment. Significantly decreased cough frequency was observed in KBT treated guinea pigs, with significant differences in high and low dose groups (P < 0.01) and in moderate dose group (P < 0.05) both compare to that of the blank control group; the asthma latent period of all KBT treated guinea pigs was also significantly longer than that of the blank control group (P < 0.01).
Conclusion KBT has significant effects of antitussive, expectorant, and anti-asthma in mice and guinea pigs.
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