Sophocarpine attenuates LPS-induced acute lung injury through pulmonary oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis

Objectives Sepsis, pneumonia, or trauma caused by acute lung injury (ALI) remains a high incidence and mortality worldwide.The critical ALI pathogenesis includes inflammatory cell infiltration, inflammation, oxidative stress injury, and damage to the alveolar-capillary barrier due to inflammatory apoptosis injury. Sophocarpine is reported protective against inflammatory diseases, while little is known about its effects on acute lung injury. Investigating therapeutic molecules that relieve the pathological processes might be a possible option for ALI management. Methods In the present study, we adopted the LPS-induced ALI model in mice to investigate the potential therapeutic effects of oral sophocarpine administration and analyze possible effects against inflammation, apoptosis, and oxidative stress. Results The results showed sophocarpine decreased pathological injury score of lung tissues, inflammatory cytokine level and oxidative stress indicators (H2O2, NO, and O-2(.-)), and elevated antioxidant molecules (SOD, GSH, and CAT). Besides, sophocarpine suppressed Nrf2/Syk, NF-kB, and PI3K/AKT signaling. Sophocarpine showed beneficial effects against inflammation, apoptosis, and oxidative stress in LPS-induced ALI. Conclusions Our finding suggested that sophocarpine might be applied in treating septic or endotoxemia-related ALI.