Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive disease that is characterized by chronic airway inflammation. A Japanese herbal medicine, hochuekkito (TJ-41), is prominently used for chronic inflammatory diseases in Japan. This study aimed to analyze the anti-inflammatory effect of TJ-41 in vivo and its underlying mechanisms. We created a COPD mouse model using intratracheal administration of porcine pancreatic elastase and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and analyzed them with and without TJ-41 administration. A TJ-41-containing diet reduced inflammatory cell infiltration of the lungs in the acute and chronic phases and body weight loss in the acute phase. In vitro experiments revealed that TJ-41 treatment suppressed the LPS-induced inflammatory cytokines in BEAS-2B cells. Furthermore, TJ-41 administration activated the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) pathway and inhibited the mechanistic target of the rapamycin (mTOR) pathway, both in cellular and mouse experiments. We concluded that TJ-41 administration reduced airway inflammation in the COPD mouse model, which might be regulated by the activated AMPK pathway, and inhibited the mTOR pathway.
Anti-Inflammatory Agents , Disease Models, Animal , Drugs, Chinese Herbal , Medicine, Kampo , Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive , Animals , Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive/drug therapy , Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive/metabolism , Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive/pathology , Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacology , Anti-Inflammatory Agents/pharmacology , Mice , AMP-Activated Protein Kinases/metabolism , TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases/metabolism , Humans , Lipopolysaccharides , Male , Cytokines/metabolism , Signal Transduction/drug effects , Cell Line , Lung/pathology , Lung/drug effects , Lung/metabolism , Pancreatic Elastase/metabolism , East Asian People
