Protective effect and molecular mechanism of four isosteroid alkaloids from Fritillariae Cirrhosae Bulbus on cigarette smoke extract-induced oxidative stress injury in A549 cells

ABSTRACT

Fritillariae Cirrhosae Bulbus (FCB) is a Chinese medicine that has been used to treat lung diseases for thousands of years. This study aimed to investigate the protective effect and mechanism of four alkaloids (peimisine, ebeiedinone, imperialine and chuanbeinone) from FCB on cigarette smoke extract (CSE)-induced oxidative injury in A549 cells. The results showed that the four alkaloids could increase the levels of glutathione/oxidized glutathione (GSH/GSSG), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1), decrease the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and reactive oxygen species (ROS), thereby alleviating oxidative injury in CSE-induced A549 cells. Furthermore, after treated with four alkaloids, the mRNA expression of HO-1, NQO-1, Nrf2 and SIRT1 were increased, while MST1 and FOXO3 were decreased in CSE-induced A549 cells, which was consistent with the results of western blotting. These results suggest that the mechanism of the four alkaloids may be related to the regulation of Nrf2/Keap1 and SIRT1/FOXO3a signaling pathways.

KEYWORDS:

• Fritillariae Cirrhosae Bulbus
• isosteroid alkaloids
• oxidative stress
• A549 cells

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Authors contribution

All authors contributed to the conception and design of the study. XW, MZ and BY designed the study. XW and MZ acquired and analyzed the data. XW and MZ drafted the manuscript. EA, WMT, KWGT and BY revised the manuscript critically for important intellectual content. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the version of the manuscript to be published.

Data availability statement

The data used and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the major science and technology research project in 2021 from Tibet Science and Technology Department [NO. XZ202101ZD0021G], the science and technology major project of Tibetan Autonomous Region of China [NO. XZ202201ZD0001G01, NO. XZ202201ZD0001G06], the Funds for local scientific and technological development guided by the central government in 2023 from Tibet Science and Technology Department [NO. XZ202301YD0014C], the Major science and technology research project in 2023 from Tibet Science and Technology Department [NO. XZ202301ZY0009G], the key support projects of the central government for local transfer payment funds (inheritance and development of traditional Chinese medicine) in the Xizang Autonomous Region in 2023 [NO. 2023-XZ-ZYYJ-01-LH].