Therapeutic effects of artesunate on cytomegalovirus pneumonia in mice
10.16438/j.0513-4870.2020-0421
- VernacularTitle:青蒿琥酯对小鼠巨细胞病毒性肺炎的治疗作用
- Author:
Ping WANG
;
Sheng CHEN
;
Xiao-tao HUANG
;
Xiao-mei XIAO
;
Qing-ping ZHAN
;
Ai-ping QIN
;
Xi-yong YU
- Publication Type:Research Article
- Keywords:
cytomegalovirus;
artesunate;
pneumonia;
inflammatory factor;
signaling pathway
- From:
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica
2020;55(11):2651-2656
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
To investigate the therapeutic effect of artesunate on mouse cytomegalovirus pneumonia, the BALB/c-nu mice were infected with murine cytomegalovirus-green fluorescent protein (MCMV-GFP) by nose dropping method. The experimental protocol was approved by the Medical Laboratory Animal Ethics Committee of Guangzhou Medical University. The BALB/c-nu mice were randomly divided into five groups: control group, MCMV pneumonia group, and artesunate (60, 120, and 240 mg·kg-1) groups. The survival rate, weights, and virus loads in lungs among the groups were observed. The degree of histopathologic changes in lungs was assessed directly by hematoxylin-eosin (HE) assay. MCMV-GFP expression was assessed by immunofluorescence. In addition, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis was performed to investigate the content of major immediate early 1 (Mie1) mRNA, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect the changes of inflammatory factors, interleukin 10 (IL-10), IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). Western blot analysis was used to detect the expression of the changes of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathways in total proteins. Compared with MCMV group, artesunate (120 mg·kg-1) significantly increased body weights of MCMV-infected nude mice over 30 days, and decreased the viral titer in lung homogenate, lung inflammation, and histological severity. Moreover, the administration of artesunate (120 mg·kg-1) could downregulate the expression of phospho-NF-κB (p-NF-κB) p65 in the lungs of mice. The present study suggested that artesunate can protect the immunocompromised mice from MCMV-induced interstitial pneumonia via downregulating NF-κB signaling pathway, thus attenuating inflammation in the lungs.
