Department of Obstetrics, China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China.
Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China.
J Cell Mol Med. 2024 Jul;28(14):e18550. doi: 10.1111/jcmm.18550.
Endometritis is one of the important causes of infertility. Puerarin (PU) can inhibit oxidative stress and reduce inflammation; however, it is unclear whether PU has a protective effect on the endometritis. In our study, we used Staphylococcus aureus to induce mouse endometritis. The PU group (100 mg/kg PU) and the S. aureus + PU group received daily intraperitoneal injection of PU (25, 50 or 100 mg/kg PU). The results showed that S. aureus significantly increased the levels of MPO, TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 in uterine tissue, and increased the expression of p-p65 and p-IκBα proteins in uterine tissue to induce endometritis in mice (p < 0.05). Furthermore, it has been found that S. aureus promotes the occurrence of ferroptosis by reducing GSH and ATP content, increasing MDA and iron content and reducing GPX4 and SLC7A11 protein expression levels (p < 0.05). S. aureus significantly increase the expression of NLRP3, ASC, caspase-1 and P2X7 proteins in uterine tissue (p < 0.05). However, PU obviously reduced the inflammatory response and reversed the changes of ferroptosis and the expression of P2X7 receptor/NLRP3 pathway associated proteins of the uterus induced by S. aureus (p < 0.05). Taken together, these findings emphasize the protective effect of PU on endometritis by regulating the P2X7 receptor/NLRP3 signalling pathway and inhibiting ferroptosis.
子宫内膜炎是不孕的重要原因之一。葛根素(PU)可抑制氧化应激和减轻炎症;然而,尚不清楚 PU 是否对子宫内膜炎具有保护作用。在我们的研究中,我们使用金黄色葡萄球菌诱导小鼠子宫内膜炎。PU 组(100mg/kg PU)和金黄色葡萄球菌+PU 组每天接受腹腔内注射 PU(25、50 或 100mg/kg PU)。结果表明,金黄色葡萄球菌显著增加了子宫组织中 MPO、TNF-α、IL-1β 和 IL-6 的水平,并增加了子宫组织中 p-p65 和 p-IκBα 蛋白的表达,从而诱导小鼠子宫内膜炎(p<0.05)。此外,研究发现金黄色葡萄球菌通过降低 GSH 和 ATP 含量、增加 MDA 和铁含量以及降低 GPX4 和 SLC7A11 蛋白表达水平来促进铁死亡的发生(p<0.05)。金黄色葡萄球菌显著增加了子宫组织中 NLRP3、ASC、caspase-1 和 P2X7 蛋白的表达(p<0.05)。然而,PU 明显减轻了炎症反应,并逆转了金黄色葡萄球菌诱导的子宫铁死亡和 P2X7 受体/NLRP3 通路相关蛋白表达的变化(p<0.05)。综上所述,这些发现强调了 PU 通过调节 P2X7 受体/NLRP3 信号通路和抑制铁死亡对子宫内膜炎的保护作用。