Pristimerin attenuates ovalbumin-induced allergic airway inflammation in mice

Abstract

Pristimerin has been shown to possess antiinflammatory activity. However, its potential use for asthma induced by airway inflammation has not yet been studied. First, we established a ovalbumin (OVA)-induced allergic asthma mice model. BALB/c mice were immunized and challenged by OVA. Treatment with pristimerin caused a marked reduction in the levels of OVA-specific IgE, immune cells, and IL-4, IL-5, IL-13 secretion. Histological studies using H&E staining were used to study the alterations in lung tissue. These results were similar to those obtained with dexamethasone treatment. We then investigated which signal transduction mechanisms could be implicated in pristimerin activity by Western blot. The data showed that pristimerin could inhibit MAPKs and NF-κB inflammatory pathways.

Keywords:

• Allergic asthma
• IgE
• MAPK
• NF-κB
• pristimerin

Disclosure statement

The authors report no declaration of interest.

Funding information

This work was financially supported by the 2015 Scientific Research Program of 12th Five Year Plan from the Education Department of Jilin Province (No. 2015-534 and No. 2016-489) and the Science and Technology Project from the Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine of Jilin Province (No. 2012-147).