Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Nov 1;52(6):79-84.
doi: 10.15586/aei.v52i6.1199. eCollection 2024.

Beta-elemene alleviates cigarette smoke-triggered inflammation, apoptosis, and oxidative stress in human bronchial epithelial cells, and refrains the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway

Yan Li  1 , Li Zhang  2
Affiliations

Beta-elemene alleviates cigarette smoke-triggered inflammation, apoptosis, and oxidative stress in human bronchial epithelial cells, and refrains the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway

Yan Li et al. Allergol Immunopathol (Madr). .

Abstract

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a grievous disease that adversely affects human health and life. β-elemene is a type of sesquiterpenoid extracted from Curcuma wenyujin (Zingiberaceae) and displays effects on suppressing tumor growth. However, the regulatory impact of β-elemene in COPD development is not reported.

Objective: This study explored the functioning of β-elemene in the progression of COPD.

Material and methods: The cell survival rate was confirmed through Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay. The cell apoptosis was evaluated through flow cytometry. The protein expressions were examined through western blot. The levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) were examined through the corresponding commercial kits. The levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and IL-1β were inspected through Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA).

Results: The study demonstrated that β-elemene exaggerated cell viability and reduced cell apoptosis in BEAS-2B human bronchial epithelial cell line stimulated by cigarette smoke extract (CSE). Oxidative stress was heightened after 5% CSE induction, but this impact was counteracted by β-elemene treatment. In addition, enhancive inflammation induced by cigarette smoke was attenuated by β-elemene treatment. Finally, our results indicated that the triggered the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-protein kinase B-mechanistic target of rapamycin (PI3K/AKT/mTOR) pathway mediated by cigarette smoke was refrained by β-elemene treatment.

Conclusion: It was concluded that β-elemene reduced cigarette smoke-triggered inflammation, apoptosis, and oxidative stress in human bronchial epithelial cell line, and refrained PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway. This study proposed that β-elemene could act as a hopeful drug for the treatment of COPD.

Keywords: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; inflammation; oxidative stress; β-elemene.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. 1. Christenson SA, Smith BM, Bafadhel M, Putcha N. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Lancet. 2022;399(10342): 2227–42. 10.1016/S0140-6736(22)00470-6 - DOI
    1. 2. Ritchie AI, Wedzicha JA. Definition, causes, pathogenesis, and consequences of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbations. Clin Chest Med. 2020;41(3):421–38. 10.1016/j.ccm.2020.06.007 - DOI
    1. 3. Li J, Qiu C, Xu P, Lu Y, Chen R. Casticin improves respiratory dysfunction and attenuates oxidative stress and inflammation via inhibition of NF-κB in a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease model of chronic cigarette smoke-exposed rats. Drug Des Devel Ther. 2020;14:5019–27. 10.2147/DDDT.S277126 - DOI
    1. 4. Barnes PJ, Burney PG, Silverman EK, Celli BR, Vestbo J, Wedzicha JA, et al. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Nat Rev Dis Primers. 2015;1:15076. 10.1038/nrdp.2015.76 - DOI
    1. 5. Tuder RM, Petrache I. Pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. J Clin Invest. 2012;122(8):2749–55. 10.1172/JCI60324 - DOI

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources