Conference Report: The 4th ASEAN PharmNET 2024 & The 2024 US-Thai Pharmacy Consortium Conference: The 30th Anniversary Commemoration
1. Introduction:
Eriobotrya japonica (Thunb.) Lindl. (commonly known as Loquat) is an evergreen fruit tree, only distributed in some northern provinces of Vietnam (LangSon, CaoBang, LaiChau). The Loquat leaf has been used in traditional herbal medicine for treating coughs and respiratory conditions. The main ingredient of Bophe-Hataphar™ is dried extract of E. japonica leaves and some anti-coughing herbal drugs such as Platycodi radix, Fritillaria cirrhosa bulbus, Zingiberis rhizoma. The herbal preparation was prepared in syrup form for this study.
Objectives: To evaluate the antitussive and expectorant activity of Bophe-Hataphar™ syrup using in vivo expreriments.
2. Methods
For the antitussive assay:The antitussive effects were evaluated using a classical mice cough model induced by ammonia liquor. Codeine phosphate was used as a positive control. For the expectorant assay: phenol red secretion experiments were conducted to evaluate the expectorant activities of Bophe-Hataphar™. NH4Cl was used as a positive control.
3. Results and Discussions
The results showed that codeine phosphate at a dose of 30 mg/kg significantly reduced coughs per 5 minutes compared to the control group (p<0.001). Bophe-Hataphar™ exhibited potent antitussive effects, significantly reducing coughs in a dose-dependent manner. At doses of 7.2 ml/kg and 14.4 ml/kg, the herbal preparation reduced coughs to 1 (0-3) and 3 (0-8) per 5 minutes, respectively (p<0.001), demonstrating its antitussive activity. There was no significant difference in cough reduction efficacy between doses (p>0.05).
In the expectorant assay using the phenol red secretion mice model, the positive control NH4Cl at a dose of 1.5 g/kg exhibited expectorant activity by significantly increase phenol red secretion when compared to the control group (p<0.05). Bophe-Hataphar™ was evaluated for its ability to promote expectoration. The results showed that the herbal preparation significantly increased phenol red secretion, indicating expectorant activity. Both doses of Bophe-Hataphar™ (7.2 ml/kg and 14.4 ml/kg) resulted in a 1.5-fold increase in phenol red secretion, similar to the positive control (p> 0.05).
4. Conclusion
Overall, the study demonstrated that Bophe-Hataphar™ syrup has significant antitussive and expectorant activities in vivo. It effectively reduced coughing and promoted expectoration. This research is the first to report on antitussive and expectorant activity of herbal preparation containing dried extract of E. japonica leaf as major ingredient.
