Protective effects of ethyl acetate extracts of Rimulus Cinnamon on systemic inflammation and lung injury in endotoxin-poisoned mice.

Rimulus cinnamon is the dried twig of Cinnamomum cassia Presl. It is widely used in China for the treatment of inflammatory processes, amenorrhea, and other diseases. We aimed to study the protective effects of ethyl acetate extracts of R. cinnamon (EAE) on systemic inflammation and lung injury in endotoxin-poisoned mice. EAE was administered 5 d prior to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenge with 15 mg/kg LPS. The administration of EAE increased the levels of interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and decreased the levels of interleukin-18 (IL-18) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in the serum. Additionally, EAE relieved the pathological changes in the tissues of the lungs and spleen, and significantly reduced the number of neutrophils in the lung tissues. In addition, treatment with EAE decreased the mRNA expression of the NLR family, pyrin domain-containing protein 3 (NLRP3), caspase-1, and interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß) in the lungs, as well as the expression of NLRP3, caspase-1 (p20), and pro-IL-1ß proteins. These results demonstrated the promising anti-inflammatory effects of EAE in endotoxin-poisoned mice. Furthermore, EAE could alleviate the lung injury of endotoxin-poisoned mice by antagonizing the activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome.

Protective effect of cinnamic acid in endotoxin-poisoned mice.

In this work, we aimed to evaluate the protective effect of cinnamic acid (CD) on lipopolysaccharide (LPS; Escherichia coli 055:B5)-induced endotoxin-poisoned mice and clarify the underlying mechanisms. The mice were administrated CD 5 d before 15 mg/kg LPS challenge. 12 hr later, thymus was separated for determination of thymus indexes. Lung and spleen tissues were collected for histologic examination and the wet/dry weight ratio of lung was calculated, and serum was acquired for tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-18, and IL-1ß measurement. Moreover, the expression of NOD-like receptor (NLR) family, pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome was determined in lung. CD increased the thymus indexes and decreased lung wet/dry weight ratio. In addition, CD improved the lung and spleen histopathological changes induced by LPS and decreased the number of neutrophils in lung tissues. CD also inhibited the pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-18, and IL-1ß) production in serum. Furthermore, CD suppressed the LPS-induced NLRP3, Caspase-1, and IL-1ß mRNA expression in lung, as well as the expression of NLRP3 and Caspase-1 (p20) protein. CD may have protective effects in endotoxin-poisoned mice via inhibiting the activation of NLRP3 inflammasome, and can be considered as a potential therapeutic candidate for diseases involved in endotoxin poisoning such as sepsis.

[Protective effects of Schizonepeta volatile oil on endotoxin poisoning induced by lipopolysaccharide in mice].

In order to study the protective effects of Schizonepeta volatile oil (Sto）on endotoxin poisoning mice, and the relatively content of each chemical osubstance in Schizonepeta volatile oil was measured using GC-MS. The mare C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into five groups including the normal group, model group, dexamethasone group (5 mg•kg⁻¹), and Sto (0.226 and 0.452 g•kg⁻¹, respectively) groups. The dexamethasone group was given the drugs once time by intraperitoneal injection on the 5th day, while the other mice were given drugs by oral administration once a day for 5 days. Then, the normal group was injected with the saline and the other groups were injected LPS (15 mg•kg-1) after 30 minutes of the last administration. After LPS injection twelve hours, the blood, serum, and lung tissue of mice were collected. The IL-18, IL-1ß, IL-5, TNF-α, MCP-1, MIP-1ß, M-CSF, and GM-CSF were measured in serum by ELISA and Luminex Magpix. The white cell (WBC) and platelet (PLT) in blood were counted and lung, spleen, and thymus index were calculated. The lung histopathology was performed at the same time. The GC-MS results showed that the relative content of menthone and pulegone are 46.67% and 33.92%, respectively. The Sto (0.452 and 0.226 g•kg⁻¹, respectively) reduced the levels of IL-1ß, IL-5, TNF-α, MCP-1, MIP-1ß, and M-CSF in serum (P<0.01 or P<0.05). The 0.452 g•kg⁻¹ Sto also reduced the levels of IL-18 and GM-CSF in the serum (P<0.01 or P<0.05). And the 0.226 g•kg⁻¹ Sto showed good anti-inflammatory effects by reducing neutrophil infiltration in the lung tissue. But the Sto had no effect on the increasing of WBC, spleen and lung index as well as decreasing of PLT and thymus index. The results showed that Sto has a protective effect in LPS-induced exdotoxin poisoning mice, its mechanism is related to inhibit the release of varies of inflammatory cytokines and reduce the inflammation reaction.