ArticleBMC complementary medicine and therapies2022
Nasal irrigation with licorice extract (Glycyrrhiza glabra) in treating nasal polyps by reducing fibroblast differentiation and extracellular matrix production in TGF-β1-stimulated nasal polyp-derived fibroblasts by inhibiting the MAPK/ERK-1/2 pathway - an in vitro and in clinic study.
Article in BMC complementary medicine and therapies, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.
- Article
- Nasal Irrigation with Licorice Extract for Allergic Rhinitis: A Clinical Study Evaluated by Subjective Assessments and Meridian Electrical Conductance.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Pulmonary hypertension: etiology and anti-inflammatory treatment pathways of natural products.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Review
- Therapeutic Strategies to Prevent the Recurrence of Nasal Polyps after Surgical Treatment: An Update and In Vitro Study on Growth Inhibition of Fibroblasts.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Review
- Semilicoisoflavone B Induces Apoptosis of Oral Cancer Cells by Inducing ROS Production and Downregulating MAPK and Ras/Raf/MEK Signaling.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundTo date, treating nasal polyps (NPs) is still a medical challenge. However, we have developed an innovative therapy using licorice extract (LE: Glycyrrhiza glabra) to treat rhinitis and sinusitis via nasal irrigation and have discovered that it significantly affects treatment of NPs. HYPOTHESIS/PURPOSE: This study investigated the mechanism of LE on NPs. STUDY
designNPs were collected from three patients using tissue biopsies before and 2 weeks after nasal irrigation with licorice for histopathological analysis. Additionally, NPs from two patients were collected, and nasal polyp-derived fibroblasts (NPDF) were isolated and cultured.
methodsThe TGF-β1-stimulated NPDF model was used to examine the effect of LE on fibroblast differentiation (biomarker: α-SMA), the consequent production of extracellular matrix (ECM; biomarkers: fibronectin, FBN), and the functional signaling pathway.
resultsImmunohistochemistry (IHC) revealed that the number of eosinophils and the expression of α-SMA and interstitial collagen of polyps after licorice treatment significantly decreased. Additionally, RT-PCR, western blotting, and immunofluorescence (IF) showed that α-SMA and FBN expressions were significantly increased in the NPDF, which was stimulated by TGF-β1, and LE dose-dependently could effectively reduce this effect. Furthermore, western blotting showed that LE could attenuate α-SMA and FBN expressions by preventing the signaling pathway of MAPK/ERK-1/2, which IHC and IF further confirmed. In addition, LE effectively suppressed the cell migration of NPDF, which is related to polyp expansion.
conclusionLE is clinically used to treat sinusitis with NPs through nasal irrigation, which significantly reduces the size of NPs. This effect could attenuate fibroblast differentiation, ECM production and cell migration, and one of the functional mechanisms may be through inhibition of the MAPK/ERK-1/2 signaling pathway.
trial registrationISRCTN (No. 51425529) registered on 17/04/2020 (retrospectively registered) - http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN51425529.
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