Efficacy of butterbur in allergic rhinitis: a cell culture study

Z. Özergin Coşkun, N. Bayar Muluk, D. Turgut Cosan, C. Cingi

Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Faculty of Medicine, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University, Rize, Turkey. nbayarmuluk@yahoo.com

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• Rhinology

OBJECTIVE: The study aims to define butterbur’s impact on nasal cells’ viability and proliferation. After topically administering butterbur to the nasal epithelial cells, research has been done to see if butterbur has any harmful effect on the nasal cells.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Specimens of healthy primary nasal epithelium were collected from the subjects and incubated in cell culture in due course of septoplasty. After implementing 2.5 µM butterbur in cultured cells, cell viability was defined via trypan blue assay, and proliferation was defined via the XTT method. The number of total cells, viability, and proliferation was defined. XTT (2, 3-bis-(2-methoxy-4-nitro-5-sulphophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium-5-carboxanilide) experiments can be used to evaluate cellular toxicity.

RESULTS: The findings of the XTT experiment reveal no harm to nasal cells after topical implementation of butterbur. No significant change in the proliferation of the cells, no matter what the doses are. There was no cytotoxic effect on the primary nasal cells at the end of 24 hours of implementation, and no side effects were found. There was no difference in cells’ viability between the experimental group with butterbur application and the control group.

CONCLUSIONS: Cytotoxicity on nasal cells was not observed after the butterbur application. Even if there have been some indications of liver toxicity, butterbur can be suggested as a safe option for seasonal allergic rhinitis. Further studies related to the toxicity of topical butterbur are also recommended, even though this study indicates no cytotoxicity from the topical application on nasal cells.

Published on: 2023/06/21

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