ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Allergy
Sec. Asthma
This article is part of the Research TopicBiologics for Airway Diseases: From bench to bedsideView all 6 articles
Long-Term Qipian® Administration Confers Resistance to Airway Inflammation in OVA-Induced Asthmatic Mice
Provisionally accepted
- 1The Second Affiliated Hospital Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
- 2School of Marine Sciences, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China
- 3Ningbo University, Ningbo, China
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Background: Qipian® is an immunomodulatory agent with established short-term benefits in allegic asthma, but its long-term effects remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate its potential to attenuate the development of asthma in a murine model and to elucidate its underlying mechanisms. Methods: Following three months of oral Qipian® administration and the establishment of an ovalbumin (OVA)-induced mouse model, samples (lung tissues, blood, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), and feces) were collected. Analyses included quantification of eosinophils, immunoglobulins, and Th1/Th2 cytokines. Lung mucus was assessed via periodic acid-Schiff staining; dendritic cell and regulatory T (Treg) cell populations were characterized by flow cytometry; and gut microbiota was profiled via 16S rDNA sequencing. Asthmatic symptoms were scored concurrently. Results and conclusions: Long-term Qipian® administration (LTQA) effectively reduced the exacerbation of OVA-induced asthmatic symptoms, airway inflammation, inflammatory cell infiltration and mucus hypersecretion. LTQA restored the Th1/Th2 balance by reducing IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13, and elevating the expression of IFNγ and IL-10. Furthermore, LTQA was associated with the expansion of Tregs and CD103+ dendritic cell populations, a reduction in OVA-elevated neurokinins (NKA, NKB), and an increased abundance of Lactobacillus. Conclusion: This study indicates that LTQA may confer resistance to allergic airway inflammation by modulating immune responses and gut microbiota supporting the lung-gut axis as a promising target for a novel clinical approach in asthma management.
Keywords: CD103+ DCs, CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Treg Cells, Gut Microbiota, Long-term Qipian® administration, OVA-induced asthma
Received: 14 Nov 2025; Accepted: 03 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Wang, Chen, Shi, Yang and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Guan-Jun Yang
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