Cycloastragenol alleviates airway inflammation in asthmatic mice by inhibiting autophagy.
Mol Med Rep
; 24(5)2021 11.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-34542166
ABSTRACT
Cycloastragenol (CAG), a secondary metabolite from the roots of Astragalus zahlbruckneri, has been reported to exert antiinflammatory effects in heart, skin and liver diseases. However, its role in asthma remains unclear. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of CAG on airway inflammation in an ovalbumin (OVA)induced mouse asthma model. The current study evaluated the lung function and levels of inflammation and autophagy via measurement of airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR), lung histology examination, inflammatory cytokine measurement and western blotting, amongst other techniques. The results demonstrated that CAG attenuated OVAinduced AHR in vivo. In addition, the total number of leukocytes and eosinophils, as well as the secretion of inflammatory cytokines, including interleukin (IL)5, IL13 and immunoglobulin E were diminished in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of the OVAinduced murine asthma model. Histological analysis revealed that CAG suppressed inflammatory cell infiltration and goblet cell secretion. Notably, based on molecular docking simulation, CAG was demonstrated to bind to the active site of autophagyrelated gene 4microtubuleassociated proteins light chain 3 complex, which explains the reduced autophagic flux in asthma caused by CAG. The expression levels of proteins associated with autophagy pathways were inhibited following treatment with CAG. Taken together, the results of the present study suggest that CAG exerts an antiinflammatory effect in asthma, and its role may be associated with the inhibition of autophagy in lung cells.
Key words
Full text:
1
Database:
MEDLINE
Traditional Medicines:
Medicinas_tradicionales_de_asia
/
Medicina_china
Main subject:
Asthma
/
Sapogenins
/
Autophagy
/
Drugs, Chinese Herbal
/
Anti-Asthmatic Agents
Type of study:
Etiology_studies
Language:
En
Journal:
Mol Med Rep
Year:
2021
Type:
Article