| We investigated whether flavanones, hesperetin–naringenin, orange, and grapefruit juices reduce airway inflammation
and remodeling in murine chronic asthma model. To establish chronic asthma, mice received house dust
mite (HDM) for 3 days in 2 weeks, followed by twice per week for 4 weeks. Concurrently, during the last 4 weeks,
mice received hesperetin plus naringenin (HN), orange plus grapefruit juice (OGJ), orange juice (OJ), or grapefruit
juice (GJ); whereas the asthmatic control (AC) group and non-asthmatic control (NC) group consumed
water ad libitum. In histopathological examination, no goblet cells metaplasia was observed in the HN, OJ,
and GJ groups; also, intra-alveolar macrophages decreased compared with those of the AC group. Hesperetin
plus naringenin significantly decreased subepithelial fibrosis, smooth muscle hypertrophy in airways, and lung
atelectasis compared with the AC group. Also, there was a reduction of subepithelial fibrosis in airways in OJ
and GJ groups compared with AC group, but it was not noticed in OGJ group. In bronchoalveolar lavage fluid,
macrophages numbers decreased in OJ and OGJ groups, whereas eosinophil numbers were increased in OJ
group compared with NC group. Our finding revealed that hesperetin plus naringenin ameliorate airway structural
remodeling more than orange juice and grapefruit juice in murine model of HDM-induced asthma. |