Clinical efficacy of Chaipu Decoction combined with Seretide in the treatment of bronchial asthma and its impact on TNF-α and CD4+/CD8+

Why this matters for people with asthma

For millions of people living with bronchial asthma, even routine activities can trigger tightness in the chest, wheezing, and frightening episodes of breathlessness. Standard inhaled medicines help many, but some still struggle with lingering symptoms or side effects. This study asks a simple, practical question: can adding a traditional herbal formula, Chaipu Decoction, to a commonly used inhaler medication (Seretide) help adults with asthma breathe easier and feel better, without adding extra risk?

A closer look at the treatment combination

The researchers worked with 300 adults diagnosed with bronchial asthma at a hospital in China. Everyone continued to use Seretide, a widely prescribed combination inhaler that eases airway tightening and reduces swelling. Half of the participants were randomly assigned to also drink Chaipu Decoction every day for 12 weeks, while the other half relied on Seretide alone. Chaipu Decoction is a traditional Chinese herbal mixture that includes plant ingredients such as Bupleurum, Scutellaria, Pinellia, Magnolia bark, Poria, dried tangerine peel, and licorice. In traditional practice, this formula is given to relieve cough, chest tightness, and phlegm; modern laboratory work suggests some of its components can calm inflammation and influence the immune system.

How the study was carried out

To keep the comparison fair, the team used a randomized, controlled design: each patient had an equal chance of being placed in the combination group or the Seretide-only group, and the researchers analyzing the data did not know who was in which group. All participants met standard medical criteria for asthma and were followed for 12 weeks. The team tracked several types of information: day-to-day symptoms scored using both modern questionnaires and traditional Chinese medicine symptom scales; breathing tests that measure how much air a person can blow out and how fast; blood markers related to inflammation (especially a signaling molecule called TNF-α) and immune balance (the CD4+/CD8+ ratio, which reflects different types of white blood cells); and any unwanted side effects during treatment.

What happened to symptoms and lung function

By the end of the 12-week period, patients who took Chaipu Decoction plus Seretide were more likely to show clear improvement than those on Seretide alone. About 87% of people in the combination group had meaningful relief of symptoms, compared with about 67% in the Seretide-only group. Both groups reported better asthma control on a standard test, but the combination group scored a little higher and reached the “well-controlled” range more often. Breathing tests told a similar story: measures of how much air participants could exhale and how quickly it left the lungs improved in both groups, yet the gains were consistently larger in those receiving the herbal add-on. Traditional Chinese medicine symptom scores, which capture cough, wheeze, phlegm, and chest tightness, dropped more sharply and steadily over 4, 8, and 12 weeks when Chaipu Decoction was included.

What changed inside the body

The study also peered under the hood to see how the body’s internal landscape shifted. In asthma, the airways are often bathed in inflammatory signals that attract immune cells and keep the tubes swollen and twitchy. One of these signals is TNF-α. In both groups, TNF-α tended to fall over time, but the decrease was larger in the combination group, suggesting that the added herbs helped tone down this inflammatory messenger more strongly. At the same time, the ratio of two key types of immune cells, CD4 and CD8 T cells, moved upward more in the combination group than in the control group. This ratio is often used as a simple gauge of immune balance. Together, these changes hint that adding Chaipu Decoction may not just mask symptoms, but also nudge the immune system and airway environment toward a calmer, more stable state.

Safety, limits, and what it means for patients

Reassuringly, the rate of side effects—such as dry mouth, mild stomach upset, dizziness, or skin rash—was similar in the two groups. No serious new safety problems emerged over the 12 weeks, although the study was not long enough to rule out rare or long-term issues. The authors note important limits: all patients were from a single hospital, the study lasted only three months, and only a narrow set of biological markers was measured. Even so, the results suggest that adding a carefully prepared herbal formula to standard inhaler therapy can provide extra symptom relief and better breathing for adults with asthma, while also dialing down signs of inflammation. Larger, longer trials in different settings will be needed to confirm who stands to benefit most, but this work points toward an integrative approach where modern inhalers and traditional herbal medicine may work together rather than in competition.

Citation: Li, K., Zhu, X., Cui, S. et al. Clinical efficacy of Chaipu Decoction combined with Seretide in the treatment of bronchial asthma and its impact on TNF-α and CD4⁺/CD8⁺. Sci Rep 16, 13449 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-37033-9

Keywords: bronchial asthma, Seretide, Chaipu Decoction, integrative medicine, airway inflammation