Moon Dong-Oh, Kim Mun-Ock, Lee Hee-Jeong, Choi Yung Hyun, Park Yeong-Min, Heo Moon-Soo, Kim Gi-Young
Faculty of Applied Marine Science, Cheju National University, Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, Jeju 690-756, Republic of Korea.
Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2008 Oct 17;375(2):275-9. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2008.08.025. Epub 2008 Aug 13.
Curcumin has been strongly implicated as an anti-inflammatory agent, but the precise mechanisms of its action are largely unknown. In this study, we show that curcumin contributes to anti-inflammatory activity in the murine asthma model and lung epithelial cell A549 through suppression of nitric oxide (NO). To address this problem, curcumin was injected into the peritoneum of ovalbumin (OVA)-sensitized mice before the last allergen challenge. OVA challenge resulted in activation of the production of inducible nitric oxide (iNOS) in lung tissue, inflammatory cytokines, recruitment of eosinophils to lung airways, and airway hyper-responsiveness to inhaled methacholine. These effects of ovalbumin challenge were all inhibited by pretreatment of mice with curcumin. Furthermore, supplementation with curcumin in the A549 human airway epithelial cells decreased iNOS and NO production induced by IFN-gamma. These findings show that curcumin may be useful as an adjuvant therapy for airway inflammation through suppression of iNOS and NO.
姜黄素已被强烈认为是一种抗炎剂，但其确切的作用机制在很大程度上尚不清楚。在本研究中，我们表明姜黄素通过抑制一氧化氮（NO）在小鼠哮喘模型和肺上皮细胞A549中发挥抗炎活性。为了解决这个问题，在最后一次过敏原激发前，将姜黄素注射到卵清蛋白（OVA）致敏小鼠的腹腔中。OVA激发导致肺组织中诱导型一氧化氮合酶（iNOS）的产生激活、炎性细胞因子、嗜酸性粒细胞向肺气道的募集以及气道对吸入乙酰甲胆碱的高反应性。姜黄素预处理可抑制卵清蛋白激发的这些效应。此外，在A549人气道上皮细胞中补充姜黄素可降低IFN-γ诱导的iNOS和NO产生。这些发现表明，姜黄素可能通过抑制iNOS和NO作为气道炎症的辅助治疗药物。
