Sappanone A ameliorates acute lung injury through inhibiting the activation of the NF-κB signaling pathway

Acute lung injury (ALI) is a serious respiratory disease characterized by diffuse alveolar injury, and it has emerged as a major concern in clinical practice due to limited treatments. This study aimed to explore the pharmacological effects and regulatory mechanism of sappanone A (SA) on ALI. In vivo, mice were administered with SA followed by intratracheal injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to establish an animal model of ALI. We observed that SA exerted comparable anti-inflammatory effects to dexamethasone, as evidenced by effectively mitigating histopathological abnormalities and suppressing the inflammatory response in the lung tissues of mice with ALI. RNA sequencing analysis revealed that SA significantly inhibited the activation of the nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathway. In vitro, we found that SA protected BEAS-2B cells against LPS-induced cellular injury and reduced inflammatory cytokine generation. Furthermore, both in vivo and in vitro experiments demonstrated that SA effectively prevented LPS-induced oxidative stress and apoptosis. Consistent with the results of the RNA sequencing analysis, SA significantly inhibited the increased protein expressions of p105, p50, c-REL, as well as the ratios of p-p65/p65 and p-IκBα/IκBα in the lung tissues of mice with ALI and LPS-stimulated BEAS-2B cells. Additionally, SA inhibited the nuclear translocation of p65 in BEAS-2B cells stimulated with LPS. Importantly, specific blockade of the NF-κB signaling pathway using BAY11–7082 was identified to alleviate LPS-induced cellular injury in BEAS-2B cells. Collectively, these findings suggest that SA can ameliorate ALI, at least in part, through the inhibition of NF-κB signaling pathway activation.