ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE To study protective effect and potential mechanism of Modified yupingfeng nasal spray （YPF+） on nasal mucosal injury in allergic rhinitis （AR） model rats. METHODS AR model was induced by ovalbumin （OVA） and randomly divided into model group， YPF+group （50 µg/side，twice a day）， positive control group （Mometasone furoate aqueous nasal spray， 50 µg/side，once a day）； the blank group was set up， with 10 rats in each group. Administration groups were given relevant medicine， and blank group and model group were given equivalent normal saline for consecutive 4 weeks. Thirty minutes after last medication， the behavioral scores of rats were recorded， and the pathological changes of their nasal mucosa tissue were observed. The level of reactive oxygen species （ROS） in nasal mucosa tissue was detected. The protein and mRNA expressions of nucleotide- binding oligomerization domain-like receptor protein 3 （NLRP3），caspase-1，gasdermin D （GSDMD） were detected； the contents of interleukin-1β （IL-1β） and IL-18 in serum were also determined. RESULTS Compared with blank group， in model group， the nasal mucosa tissue structure was disordered， inflammatory cells infiltrated seriously， and lamina propria vascular dilation was visible； its behavioral score and pathological score， the level of ROS， protein and mRNA expressions of NLRP3， caspase-1 and GSDMD， serum contents of IL-1β and IL-18 in nasal mucosa tissue were increased significantly （P＜0.05）. Compared with model group， the symptoms of nasal mucosal injury in rats of each drug group were improved to varying degrees， and the above indicators were significantly reduced （P＜0.05）. CONCLUSIONS YPF+ may improve nasal mucosal injury of rats， relieve AR symptoms such as sneezing， itchy nose， runny nose， the mechanism of which may be associated with reducing the production of ROS in nasal mucosa and downregulating NLRP3/caspase-1/ GSDMD pathway.