Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Fudan University, Shanghai 201203, China.
Am J Chin Med. 2012;40(5):1007-18. doi: 10.1142/S0192415X12500747.
Viola yedoensis is a component of traditional Chinese herb medicine for inflammatory diseases. Chemical constituents of V. yedoensis have been shown to possess antibacterial, anti-HIV, and anticoagulant effects in experimental research; however, their anti-inflammatory properties remain to be demonstrated. In this study, a mouse model of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute lung injury was used to investigate the effect of petroleum ether fraction of V. yedoensis (PEVY) on inflammation in vivo. After being shown to have anti-complementary activity in vitro, PEVY was orally administered to the mice at doses of 2, 4, and 8 mg/kg. Treatment with PEVY significantly decreased the wet-to-dry weight ratio of the lung, total cells, red blood cells, protein concentration, and myeloperoxidase activity in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. PEVY markedly attenuated lung injury with improved lung morphology and reduced complement deposition. In addition, PEVY suppressed the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6. Taken together, PEVY protects the lung from acute injury, potentially via inhibiting the activation of the complement system and excessive production of proinflammatory mediators.
堇菜是传统中药治疗炎症性疾病的组成部分。堇菜的化学成分在实验研究中已显示出具有抗菌、抗 HIV 和抗凝作用；然而，其抗炎特性仍有待证明。在这项研究中，使用脂多糖 (LPS) 诱导的急性肺损伤小鼠模型来研究堇菜石油醚馏分 (PEVY) 对体内炎症的影响。PEVY 在体外表现出抗补体活性后，以 2、4 和 8 mg/kg 的剂量口服给予小鼠。PEVY 治疗可显著降低肺湿重比、总细胞、红细胞、蛋白浓度和支气管肺泡灌洗液中的髓过氧化物酶活性。PEVY 明显减轻肺损伤，改善肺形态并减少补体沉积。此外，PEVY 抑制促炎细胞因子 TNF-α、IL-1β 和 IL-6 的表达。综上所述，PEVY 通过抑制补体系统的激活和过度产生促炎介质来保护肺免受急性损伤。
