Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Abietic acid attenuates LPS-induced acute lung injury by restoring Th17/Treg balance

Xiang Li¹, Bo Liao¹, Rongming Liu¹, Yanli Ma²

¹Department of Critical Care Medicine, The Affiliated Jiangning Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province 211100, China; ²Department of Public Health Management, Ankang Central Hospital, Ankang City, Shaanxi Province 725000, China.

For correspondence:- Yanli Ma Email: yanli_m77@163.com Tel:+869153216866

Accepted: 16 August 2022 Published: 30 September 2022

Citation: Li X, Liao B, Liu R, Ma Y. Abietic acid attenuates LPS-induced acute lung injury by restoring Th17/Treg balance. Trop J Pharm Res 2022; 21(9):1879-1884 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v21i9.10

© 2022 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the mechanism of action and effects of abietic acid (AA) in a mouse acute lung injury (ALI) model.

Methods: A mouse ALI model was established by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induction. Lung tissues were examined for histological alterations and scored based on the degree of injury. Myeloperoxidase (MPO), IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) while the numbers of Th17 and Treg cells were assessed by immunofluorescence. Protein expression levels of p-STAT3, p-STAT5, RORrt, and FOXP3 were analyzed by immunoblot assay. expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) was assessed by immunoblot.

Results: AA ameliorated LPS-induced lung injury in mice. Furthermore, AA ameliorated LPS-induced pneumonia in mice (p < 0.05) and restored Th17/Treg balance and Th17/Treg transcription factor expression that was altered by LPS induction. AA also activated PPARγ expression to restore Th17/Treg balance (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: The results indicate that AA attenuates LPS-induced ALI in mice by restoring Th17/Treg balance. Thus, AA is a potential drug for the management of ALI; however, AA must first be evaluated in clinical studies.

Keywords: Acute lung injury, Abietic acid, Lipopolysaccharide, Peroxisome proliferators-activated receptor ? (PPAR?)