Herbacetin Inhibits Asthma Development by Blocking the SGK1/NF-κB Signaling Pathway

Background: Asthma severely interferes with people’s lives through coughing, wheezing and inflammation of the lungs. Herbacetin is a class of natural compounds that inhibit the development of inflammation. However, whether Herbacetin inhibits asthma has not been definitively studied.
Methods: Lipopolysaccharides (LPS)-induced lung epithelial (BASE-2B) cells injury model was established, and then the relief of damaged BASE-2B cells with different concentrations of Herbacetin was examined. The cell counting kit (CCK8) was used to detect the effect of Herbacetin on the proliferation ability in ovalbumin (OVA)-induced asthma mice model, and Western Blot and flow cytometry were used to detect the effect of Herbacetin on the apoptosis in OVA-induced asthma mice model. Additionally, pulmonary pathology was detected by HE and Masson staining, and serum inflammatory factors were detected by alveolar lavage fluid.
Results: Herbacetin reduces BESA-2B cells induced by LPS level of inflammation, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, inhibits cell apoptosis, promotes cell proliferation, OVA-induced mice lung histopathology test HE staining, serum inflammatory factors show the same results. Western Blot shows that Herbacetin regulates the expression of Caspase-3, Bax, and Bcl-2. SGK1 overexpression increased the rate of apoptosis, and Herbacetin reversed this phenomenon. By silencing the expression of SGK1, it was found that Herbacetin was an inhibitor of SGK1, which could inhibit the NF-κB/p-P65 pathway in asthmatic airway inflammation.
Conclusion: Herbacetin reduces pro-inflammatory cytokine levels by inhibiting the SGK1/NF-κB pathway. Our data suggest that Herbacetin has a significant anti-inflammatory effect on asthma and can be used as a potential therapeutic agent.