Fisetin-treatment alleviates airway inflammation through inhbition of MyD88/NF-κB signaling pathway

Int J Mol Med. 2018 Jul;42(1):208-218. doi: 10.3892/ijmm.2018.3582. Epub 2018 Mar 22.

Abstract

Asthma is a common chronic airway inflammation disease and is considered as a major public health problem. Fisetin (3,3',4',7-tetrahydroxyflavone) is a naturally occurring flavonoid abundantly found in different vegetables and fruits. Fisetin has been reported to exhibit various positive biological effects, including anti-proliferative, anticancer, anti-oxidative and neuroprotective effects. We evaluated the effects of fisetin on allergic asthma regulation in mice. Mice were first sensitized, then airway-challenged with ovalbumin (OVA). Whether fisetin treatment attenuated OVA-induced airway inflammation was examined via inflammation inhibition through MyD88-related NF-κB (p65) signaling pathway. Mice were divided into the control (Con), OVA-induced asthma (Mod), 40 (FL) and 50 (FH) mg/kg fisetin-treated OVA-induced asthma groups. Our results found that OVA-induced airway inflammation in mice caused a significant inflammatory response via the activation of MyD88 and NF-κB signaling pathways, leading to release of pro-inflammatory cytokines. In contrast, fisetin-treated mice after OVA induction inhibited activation of MyD88 and NF-κB signaling pathways, resulting in downregulation of pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion. Further, fisetin significantly ameliorated the airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) towards methacholine (Mch). In addition, fisetin reduced the number of eosinophil, monocyte, neutrophil and total white blood cell in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of OVA-induced mice. The serum and BALF samples obtained from the OVA-induced mice with fisetin showed lower levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines. The results of our study illustrated that fisetin may be a new promising candidate to inhibit airway inflammation response induced by OVA.

MeSH terms

  • Airway Resistance / drug effects
  • Animals
  • Asthma / complications
  • Asthma / physiopathology
  • Bronchial Hyperreactivity / complications
  • Bronchial Hyperreactivity / physiopathology
  • Cell Count
  • Cytokines / metabolism
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Flavonoids / pharmacology
  • Flavonoids / therapeutic use*
  • Flavonols
  • Inflammation Mediators / metabolism
  • Lipopolysaccharides / pharmacology
  • Lung / drug effects
  • Lung / pathology
  • Lung / physiopathology
  • Male
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Myeloid Differentiation Factor 88 / metabolism*
  • NF-kappa B / metabolism*
  • Ovalbumin
  • Pneumonia / complications
  • Pneumonia / drug therapy*
  • Pneumonia / metabolism*
  • Pneumonia / physiopathology
  • Signal Transduction* / drug effects
  • Toll-Like Receptor 5 / metabolism

Substances

  • Cytokines
  • Flavonoids
  • Flavonols
  • Inflammation Mediators
  • Lipopolysaccharides
  • Myeloid Differentiation Factor 88
  • NF-kappa B
  • Toll-Like Receptor 5
  • Ovalbumin
  • fisetin