Abstract
Environmental issues pose huge threats to public health, particularly the damage caused by fine particulate matter (PM2.5). However, the mechanisms of injury require further investigation and medical materials that can protect the lungs from PM2.5 are needed. We have found that Colla corii asini, a traditional Chinese medicine that has long been used to treat various ailments, is a good candidate to serve this purpose. To understand the mechanisms of PM2.5-induced lung toxicity and the protective effects of Colla corii asini, we established a rat model of lung injury via intratracheal instillation of artificial PM2.5 (aPM2.5). Our results demonstrated that Colla corii asini significantly protected against lung function decline and pathologic changes. Inflammation was ameliorated by suppression of Arg-1 to adjust the disturbed metabolic pathways induced by aPM2.5, such as arginine and nitrogen metabolism and aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis, for 11 weeks. Our work found that metabolomics was a useful tool that contributed to further understanding of PM2.5-induced respiratory system damage and provided useful information for further pharmacological research on Colla corii asini, which may be valuable for therapeutic intervention.
Highlights
Air pollution, fine particles, has become a major environmental issue affecting public health globally [1,2,3]
We investigated the protective effects and mechanism of action of Colla corii asini in an 11-week study of respiratory system injury induced by intratracheal instillation of aPM2.5 in rats
The rats were exposed to aPM2.5 (30 mg/kg, 1 mL/kg body weight) via intratracheal instillation except for the controls, while rats in the aPM2.5 + Colla corii asini groups received Colla corii asini daily by oral gavage for 11 weeks at doses of 1, 2 and 5 g/kg body weight
Summary
Fine particles (particles with a mass median aerodynamic diameter of less than 2.5 μm, PM2.5), has become a major environmental issue affecting public health globally [1,2,3]. Studies suggest that short- and long-term exposure to PM2.5 are linked to a range of negative health outcomes, including respiratory disorders [7], cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases [8] and decreased life expectancy [9,10]. Recent reports have shown that Colla corii asini has anti-inflammation properties and can stimulate both specific and non-specific immune function in hypoimmune mice. Our previous study showed that Colla corii asini prevented oxidative damage caused by aPM2.5 [17]. These results collectively suggest that Colla corii asini may be a useful therapeutic agent to protect against pulmonary impairment
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