Adu Williams Asamoah, Ativui Selase, Ofori Michael, Owusu George, Danquah Cynthia Amaning, Poku Sampene Ossei Paul
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Applied Science and Technology, Sunyani Technical University, Sunyani, Ghana.
Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, PMB, Kumasi, Ghana.
Animal Model Exp Med. 2025 Jul;8(7):1186-1195. doi: 10.1002/ame2.70055. Epub 2025 Jun 30.
Silicosis is an occupational lung disease that is caused by chronic exposure to silica dust. Silica-exposed workers are at higher risk of developing TB, resulting in lung fibrosis and significant respiratory dysfunction. Diosgenin is a steroidal saponin that has been shown to exert a therapeutic effect on lung injury. Therefore, we investigated the potential efficacy of diosgenin in treating silicotuberculosis by evaluating its effectiveness against Mycobacterium smegmatis, as well as its antifibrotic and antioxidant effects in silica-induced TB in rats.
Silicosis was induced by intratracheal instillation of 50 mg/kg crystalline silica in Sprague-Dawley rats. Rats were grouped into 7 (10 per group). Different doses of diosgenin (1, 10, and 20 mg/kg) and saline were administered for 30 days. Afterwards, five rats from each group were sacrificed, and the five remaining rats in each group, except the control, received Mycobacterium smegmatis. Treatment continued until the 50th day, and the animals were sacrificed at the end of the experiment. The result was analyzed using a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with GraphPad Prism.
At a half-maximal inhibition concentration of 0.006043 μg/mL, diosgenin inhibited the growth of Mycobacterium smegmatis. Oxidative stress markers such as malondialdehyde were significantly reduced. The health-enhancing effects of catalase and superoxide dismutase were elevated. Additionally, histological findings demonstrated a significant improvement in respiratory function following diosgenin treatment.
Diosgenin treatment inhibited the growth of Mycobacterium smegmatis, leading to a reduction in the susceptibility of rats to infection and improved pulmonary function through its antioxidant effect.
矽肺是一种因长期接触二氧化硅粉尘而导致的职业性肺病。接触二氧化硅的工人患结核病的风险更高，会导致肺纤维化和严重的呼吸功能障碍。薯蓣皂苷元是一种甾体皂苷，已被证明对肺损伤具有治疗作用。因此，我们通过评估薯蓣皂苷元对耻垢分枝杆菌的有效性及其在大鼠矽肺合并结核中的抗纤维化和抗氧化作用，来研究其治疗矽肺结核的潜在疗效。
通过向Sprague-Dawley大鼠气管内滴注50mg/kg结晶二氧化硅诱导矽肺。将大鼠分为7组（每组10只）。给予不同剂量的薯蓣皂苷元（1、10和20mg/kg）和生理盐水，持续30天。之后，每组处死5只大鼠，除对照组外，每组剩余的5只大鼠接种耻垢分枝杆菌。治疗持续到第50天，实验结束时处死动物。结果采用GraphPad Prism软件进行单因素方差分析（ANOVA）。
薯蓣皂苷元在半数最大抑制浓度为0.006043μg/mL时可抑制耻垢分枝杆菌的生长。丙二醛等氧化应激标志物显著降低。过氧化氢酶和超氧化物歧化酶的健康促进作用增强。此外，组织学检查结果表明，薯蓣皂苷元治疗后呼吸功能有显著改善。
薯蓣皂苷元治疗可抑制耻垢分枝杆菌的生长，通过其抗氧化作用降低大鼠的感染易感性并改善肺功能。
