Glycitin alleviates lipopolysaccharide-induced acute lung injury via inhibiting NF-κB and MAPKs pathway activation in mice.

Acute lung injury (ALI) is a pulmonary diffuse dysfunction disease caused by immoderate inflammatory response breaking the coordination of physiological structures and functions, and there are very few effective treatments to reduce high morbidity of ALI in critical patients. Glycitin is a natural ingredient derived from the seeds of leguminous plants and may have potent anti-inflammation features. The purpose of this study was to investigate the anti-inflammation effect of glycitin on LPS-induced ALI in mice and elucidate its possible anti-inflammatory mechanisms. The results of histopathological changes, the wet/dry weight ratio as well as the myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity indicated that glycitin obviously alleviated the lung injury induced by LPS. In addition, qPCR and ELISA results found that glycitin could dose-dependently decrease the expressions of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α. Western blotting was performed to revealed that glycitin inhibited the activation of NF-κB and MAPKs signaling pathways by suppressing the expression of TLR4 protein and the phosphorylation of IKKβ, IκBα, p65, p38, ERK, and JNK. All data indicated that glycitin could protect lung tissues from LPS-induced inflammation via inhibiting TLR4-mediated NF-κB and MAPKs signaling pathways.