Open AccessAstragaloside IV exerts anti-inflammatory role in endometriosis by downregulating TLR4/NF-κB pathway
Author(s) -
Yongping Zhang,
Ouping Huang,
Wei Zhang,
Luxin Liu,
Caiwei Xu
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
tropical journal of pharmaceutical research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.209
H-Index - 36
eISSN - 1596-5996
pISSN - 1596-9827
DOI - 10.4314/tjpr.v18i3.14
Subject(s) - tlr4 , in vivo , astragaloside , inflammation , western blot , pharmacology , nf κb , proinflammatory cytokine , h&e stain , chemistry , receptor , tumor necrosis factor alpha , medicine , immunohistochemistry , immunology , biology , biochemistry , high performance liquid chromatography , microbiology and biotechnology , chromatography , gene
Purpose: To investigate the effect of astragaloside IV administration on the inflammatory response in endometriosis and the underlying mechanism of action.
Methods: Mice were divided into two groups: endometriosis (EMs) mice and control mice (n = 12). EMs induction in mice was achieved by transplantation of mouse uterine tissue. The same procedure was performed in control mice except that a separate suture was inserted instead of endometrial tissue. After 5 weeks, EMs mice were treated with or without astragaloside IV (AIV). The tissue lesions in EMs and control mice were stained with hematoxylin and eosin staining. The activation of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) p65 signaling was evaluated by western blot, while expression of inflammatory cytokines was evaluated by quantitative real-time-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
Results: Astragaloside IV repressed the inflammation of murine Ems lesions, and also dampened the activation of TLR4/NF-κB signaling in vivo and vitro (p < 0.01 and p < 0.001, respectively). In addition, the expression levels of inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, Ccl-2, and TNF-α) decreased following AIV treatment in vivo.
Conclusion: The results indicate that TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathways are closely related to the inhibition of Ems inflammation by astragaloside IV. Thus, astragaloside IV may be a novel drug for the prevention and treatment of endometrioses.