Department of Korean Medical Science, Korean Medicine Hospital, School of Korean Medicine, Pusan National University, Yangsan 626-870, Republic of Korea.
Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2012;2012:974713. doi: 10.1155/2012/974713. Epub 2012 Mar 14.
The fruit hull of Gleditsia sinensis (FGS) has been prescribed as a traditional eastern Asian medicinal remedy for the treatment of various respiratory diseases, but the efficacy and underlying mechanisms remain poorly characterized. Here, we explored a potential usage of FGS for the treatment of acute lung injury (ALI), a highly fatal inflammatory lung disease that urgently needs effective therapeutics, and investigated a mechanism for the anti-inflammatory activity of FGS. Pretreatment of C57BL/6 mice with FGS significantly attenuated LPS-induced neutrophilic lung inflammation compared to sham-treated, inflamed mice. Reporter assays, semiquantitative RT-PCR, and Western blot analyses show that while not affecting NF-κB, FGS activated Nrf2 and expressed Nrf2-regulated genes including GCLC, NQO-1, and HO-1 in RAW 264.7 cells. Furthermore, pretreatment of mice with FGS enhanced the expression of GCLC and HO-1 but suppressed that of proinflammatory cytokines in including TNF-α and IL-1β in the inflamed lungs. These results suggest that FGS effectively suppresses neutrophilic lung inflammation, which can be associated with, at least in part, FGS-activating anti-inflammatory factor Nrf2. Our results suggest that FGS can be developed as a therapeutic option for the treatment of ALI.
中国皂荚（FGS）的果荚被用作治疗各种呼吸道疾病的传统东亚药物，但疗效和潜在机制仍未得到充分描述。在这里，我们探讨了 FGS 治疗急性肺损伤（ALI）的潜在用途，ALI 是一种高度致命的炎症性肺病，迫切需要有效的治疗方法，并研究了 FGS 抗炎活性的机制。与假处理、炎症小鼠相比，用 FGS 预处理 C57BL/6 小鼠可显著减轻 LPS 诱导的中性粒细胞性肺炎症。报告基因检测、半定量 RT-PCR 和 Western blot 分析表明，FGS 不影响 NF-κB，但可激活 Nrf2，并在 RAW 264.7 细胞中表达 Nrf2 调节的基因，包括 GCLC、NQO-1 和 HO-1。此外，FGS 预处理小鼠可增强 GCLC 和 HO-1 的表达，但抑制炎症肺中 TNF-α和 IL-1β等促炎细胞因子的表达。这些结果表明，FGS 可有效抑制中性粒细胞性肺炎症，这至少部分与 FGS 激活抗炎因子 Nrf2 有关。我们的研究结果表明，FGS 可作为治疗 ALI 的一种治疗选择。
