Ameliorative effect of acetylshikonin on cigarette smoke-induced lung inflammation in mice

Abstract

Cigarette smoke exposure is the major cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Acetylshikonin was the active principle component of Purple Gromwell that show anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory effect. However, no data are available to elucidate the protective effect of acetylshikonin on COPD. Acetylshikonin could attenuate smoke-induced lung pathological changes, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), and monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1) productions, and tissue damages caused by oxidative stress. Furthermore, acetylshikonin was found to enhance the expression of Nrf2 and Nur77-mediated COX-2 in vivo and in vitro.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Acetylshikonin
• smoke inhalation
• COPD
• inflammation
• oxidative stress

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was financially supported by Natural Science for Youth Foundation (NO.81601725) and Sub-subject of National Science and Technology Major Project (NO.2017ZX10204401003).