ABSTRACT
Aim To investigate whether polydatin re-duces airway inflammation in asthmatic mouse model and explore whether this pathway is related to p38 MAPK/Nrf2/HO-1 . Methods After the establish-ment of the OVA-induced asthmatic mouse model, the animals were injected with 30 mg·kg-1 and 45 mg· kg-1 of polydatin diluted in 0. 2 mL normal saline, while the control group was replaced by normal saline. HE, PAS and Masson staining were used to observe the pathological changes of lung tissue. Diff-Quick staining was used to classify and count the number of inflamma-tory cells in BALF. ELISA was used to detect IgE ex-pressions in BALF. The content of ROS in BALF cells was detected by DHR-123 . The activities of antioxidant enzymes SOD, CAT and MDA in BALF were detected by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit. The expression of HO-1 in lung tissue was detected by im-munohistochemistry. The protein and mRNA expres-sions of Nrf2 and HO-1 in lung tissue of mice were de-tected by Western blot and RT-PCR. Results Poly-datin treatment significantly reduced inflammatory cell infiltration mucosal secretion, goblet cell proliferation and collagen deposition in the lung tissue of mice, and decreased the number of inflammatory cells and the ex-pression of total IgE and ROS in BALF. It also in-creased the levels of antioxidant enzymes such as SOD and CAT, and lowered the level of MDA. Polydatin re-duced the phosphorylation of p38 MAPK in the lung tissue of mice, enhanced the levels of mRNA and pro-tein expressions of Nrf2 and HO-1 and promoted the nuclear transfer of Nrf2 . The above effects of polydatin were dose-dependent. Conclusions Polydatin exerts anti-oxidative effects in OVA-induced asthmatic mouse model via anti-oxidant pathway. The mechanism may be achieved through the p38 MAPK/Nrf2/HO-1 path-way.