Anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects of oxysophoridine on lipopolysaccharide-induced acute lung injury in mice

Oxysophoridine (OSR) is an alkaloid with multiple pharmacological activities. This study aimed to investigate the protective effects and underlying mechanisms of OSR on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute lung injury (ALI) in mice. Here, we found that OSR treatment markedly mitigated LPS-induced body weight loss and significant lung injury characterized by the deterioration of histopathology, histologic scores, wet-to-dry ratio, exduate volume, and protein leakage. OSR dramatically attenuated LPS-induced lung inflammation, as evidenced by the reduced levels of total cells, neutrophils, lymphocytes, and macrophages and pro-inflammatory cytokines (i.e., tumor necrosis factor-a, interleukin (IL)-1 beta, IL-6, and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1) in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and of their mRNA expression in lung tissues. OSR also inhibited LPS-induced expression and activation of nuclear factor-kappa B p65 in pulmonary tissue. Additionally, OSR administration markedly prevented LPS-induced pulmonary cell apoptosis in mice, as reflected by the decrease in expression of procaspase-8, procaspase-3, cleaved caspase-8, and cleaved caspase-3, and Bcl-2-associated X/B-cell lymphoma 2 ratio. These results indicate that OSR is a potential therapeutic drug for treating LPS-induced ALI.