The results of an acute lung injury (ALI) study suggests that the novel curcumin analog c26 has protective effects and may have the potential to be further developed inflammatory candidate to prevent and treat ALI.
Acute lung injury (ALI) and its most severe form acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) have been the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in intensive care units (ICU). Currently, there is no effective pharmacological treatment for acute lung injury. Curcumin, extracted from turmeric, exhibits broad anti-inflammatory properties through downregulating inflammatory cytokines. However, the instability of curcumin limits its clinical application.
A series of new curcumin analogs were synthesized and screened for their inhibitory effects on the production of TNF-? and IL-6 in mouse peritoneal macrophages by ELISA. The evaluation of stability and mechanism of active compounds was determined using UV-assay and Western Blot, respectively. In vivo, SD rats were pretreatment with c26 for seven days and then intratracheally injected with LPS to induce ALI. Pulmonary edema, protein concentration in BALF, injury of lung tissue, inflammatory cytokines in serum and BALF, inflammatory cell infiltration, inflammatory cytokines mRNA expression, and MAPKs phosphorylation were analyzed. We also measured the inflammatory gene expression in human pulmonary epithelial cells.
