Hominis placenta Suppresses Acute Lung Inflammation by Activating Nrf2.

Hominis placenta Suppresses Acute Lung Inflammation by Activating Nrf2. Am J Chin Med. 2018 May 13;:1-17 Authors: Kim TH, Choi JY, Kim KH, Kwun MJ, Han CW, Won R, Lee JJ, Kim JI, Joo M Abstract Hominis placenta (HP), a dried human placenta, has been known to target liver, lung, or kidney meridians, improving the functions associated with these meridians in traditional Chinese or Asian medicine (TCM). Since recent studies implicate an HP extract in suppressing inflammation, we investigated whether an aqueous HP extract can ameliorate inflammation that occurred in the lungs. When administered with a single intratracheal lipopolysaccharide (LPS), C57BL/6 mice developed an acute neutrophilic lung inflammation along with an increased expression of pro-inflammatory cytokine genes. However, this was diminished by the administration HP extract via an intraperitoneal route 2 h after LPS treatment. Western blot and semi-quantitative RT-PCR analyses revealed that while suppressing the activity of a proinflammatory factor NF-[Formula: see text]B marginally, the HP extract strongly activated an anti-inflammatory factor Nrf2, with concomitant expression of Nrf2-dependent genes. Mechanistically, the HP extract suppressed the ubiquitin-mediated degradation of Nrf2, functioning similarly to a 26S proteasome inhibitor, MG132. Collectively, these results suggest that the HP extract suppresses inflammation in mouse lungs, which is in part related to t...
Source: The American Journal of Chinese Medicine - Category: Complementary Medicine Authors: Tags: Am J Chin Med Source Type: research