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Echinacea Purpurea Down Regulates LPS‐induced Expression of Pro‐inflammatory and Angiogenic Factors in An Ex Vivo Model of Equine Placentitis
Author(s) -
Sloboda Cole,
Chico Sarah,
Gordon Jacob,
Bailey Scott,
Zwetsloot Kevin A.,
Mowa Chishimba
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.30.1_supplement.921.3
Subject(s) - ex vivo , tumor necrosis factor alpha , lipopolysaccharide , in vivo , medicine , pharmacology , proinflammatory cytokine , vascular endothelial growth factor , angiogenesis , andrology , inflammation , immunology , biology , vegf receptors , microbiology and biotechnology
Equine placentitis is a hard‐to‐diagnose infectious condition, which affects 3–7% of pregnancies. It represents the most common cause of late‐term abortion and neonatal disease. Current treatment protocols include antibiotic, as well as anti‐inflammatory therapeutics to mitigate the effects of uterine infection, but are largely empirical and have shown inconsistent effectiveness. In the current study, we tested the ability of Echinacea purpurea whole leaf extract to inhibit LPS‐induced up‐regulation of tumor necrosis factor 1 alpha (TNF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in ex‐vivo cultured equine placenta. Chorioallantois was harvested during c‐section of 2 mares and cultured ex vivo for 1 hour. Tissue samples of approximately 1g each were subsequently exposed to the following treatments for 6 hours in triplicate: a ) negative control, RPMI media only; b ) positive control, Lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 1,000 ng/well) only; c ) Echinacea only (10 mg/well); d) LPS (1000ng/well) + Echinacea : low (1 mg), medium (10 mg) and high (20 mg). Tissues were incubated in treatment‐solutions at 37 0 C and 8% CO 2 for 6 hours, fixed in 10% Formalin, embedded in paraffin and sectioned for confocal immunofluorescence studies using antibodies of VEGF and TNF. Addition of Echinacea blocked the up regulation of VEGF and TNF alpha by LPS dose‐dependently. We conclude that Echinacea could potentially be used to develop therapy for equine placentitis. Support or Funding Information Appalachian State University, Office of Student Research.