Abstract
Background: The pharmacological application of kaempferol, a natural flavonol present in different plant species, has been demonstrated to have extensive anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic, anti-oxidative, and anti-cancer effects. Pyroptosis is an inflammatory form of programed cell death by membranolysis and associated leakage of cytoplasm. This study investigated the molecular mechanism of kaempferol-induced effects on the pyroptosis in splenic lymphocytes (SLCs) isolated from mice.
Methods: Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-primed and adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-stimulated SLCs were used to establish the pyroptosis model. The kaempferol pretreatment was tested in the model.
Results: The results show that kaempferol alleviates LPS-ATP mediated damage by increasing cell viability, improving membrane integrity, and decreasing the release of IL1b and IL-18. Kaempferol reduces pyroptosis by suppressing the expression and activity of caspase-1, increasing the protein expression of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and NOD-like receptor 3 (NLRP3), and inhibition of the decomposition of gasdermin D (GSDMD).
Conclusions: Our data suggest that kaempferol exhibits anti-pyroptosis activities, which warrants further detailed investigation.
Acknowledgements
We would like to express our gratitude to EditSprings (https://www.editsprings.com/) for the expert linguistic services provided.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Data availability
All material and data are stored at Sichuan agricultural university, department of pharmacy, Chengdu, PR China, and may be shared upon request directed to the corresponding author.