Artemisinin Protects Porcine Mammary Epithelial Cells against Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Inflammatory Injury by Regulating the NF-κB and MAPK Signaling Pathways.

Artemisinin performs a variety of biological functions, such as anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, and anti-oxidant effects. However, the effects of artemisinin on sow mastitis have not been studied. The results of the current study showed that mRNA expression abundance and content of the inflammatory factors interleukin-1β (IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were significantly increased when using 50 μg/mL LPS to stimulate pMECs for 24 h (p < 0.05). Pretreatment with 20 μM artemisinin weakened LPS-induced inflammatory damage in pMECs and decreased mRNA expression abundance and the content of inflammatory factors (IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α) in pMECs (p < 0.05). Mechanistically, artemisinin inhibited LPS-induced activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signaling pathways. In summary, the pretreatment of pMECs with artemisinin showed enhanced anti-inflammatory activity against LPS-induced inflammation.