Betulin exhibits anti-inflammatory activity in LPS-stimulated macrophages and endotoxin-shocked mice through an AMPK/AKT/Nrf2-dependent mechanism

Continued oxidative stress can lead to chronic inflammation, which in turn could mediate most chronic diseases including cancer. Nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor (Nrf2), a critical transcriptional activator for antioxidative responses, has envolved to be an attractive drug target for the treatment or prevention of human diseases. In the present study, we investigated the effects and mechanisms of betulin on Nrf2 activation and its involvement in the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-triggered inflammatory system. In macrophages, betulin activated the Nrf2 signaling pathway and increased Nrf2-targeted antioxidant and detoxifying enzymes, including NADPH, quinine oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1), heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), gamma-glutamyl cysteine synthetase catalytic subunit (GCLC) and modifier subunit (GCLM) in a dose and time dependent manner. Importantly, we found betulin-induced activation of Nrf2 is AMPK/AKT/GSK3 beta dependent, as pharmacologically inactivating AMPK blocked the activating effect of betulin on AKT, GSK3 beta and Nrf2. Furthermore, betulin attenuated LPS-induced inflammatory mediators (iNOS and COX-2) and MAPK inflammatory signaling pathway. The effect of betulin on HO-1 and NQO1 upregulation, iNOS and COX-2 the downregulation, and survival time extension was largely weakened when Nrf2 was depleted in vitro and in vivo. Our results demonstrate that the AMPK/AKT/Nrf2 pathways are essential for the anti-inflammatory effects of betulin in LPS-stimulated macrophages and endotoxin-shocked mice.