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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Environmental Health and Exposome
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1548224
Dihydroartemisinin attenuates PM-induced lung injury by inhibiting inflammation and regulating autophagy
Provisionally accepted- 1 First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
- 2 Shaoxing People's Hospital, Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, China
The study investigates the effects and mechanisms of dihydroartemisinin (DHA) in mitigating lung injury induced by particulate matter (PM).The lung injury model was induced by PM particles in vivo and in vitro. Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) staining was utilized for the detection of the thickening of airway wall and the infiltration of inflammatory cells in mouse lung tissue. The expressions of inflammatory factors were detected in alveolar lavage fluid and cell supernatant. TUNEL (Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling) staining, Caspase-1, Bcl-2associated X protein (Bax), B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3-II (LC3-II) and Belcin-1 were used to observe the apoptosis and autophagy related expressions in mouse lung tissue, and p-p65 was detected by immunofluorescence.Results: H&E staining revealed DHA alleviates PM-induced lung injury in vivo. Moreover, DHA reduced IL-6, IL-8, and IL-1β levels by approximately 50% (p < 0.05), highlighting its anti-inflammatory effects. Furthermore, immunohistochemistry showed that DHA treatment inhibited the pro-apoptotic expression of Bax/BCL2 and cleaved-Caspase-3, respectively. In addition, immunofluorescence staining revealed that the LC3-II and Beclin-1 levels dramatically increased in the PM group compared to Control group, but greatly reduced by DHA. Further, we found that DHA inhibited the activation of the NF-KB signaling pathway.DHA protects against PM-induced lung injury through anti-inflammatory, antiapoptotic, and autophagy-regulating mechanisms, offering a potential drug option for improving PM induced lung injury.
Keywords: Particulate matter (PM), Dihydroartemisinin (DHA), Lung Injury, Inflammation, Autophagy, Nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB)
Received: 19 Dec 2024; Accepted: 18 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Li, Yincong, Xie, Dong and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Chengshui Chen, First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
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