Tanreqing injection protects against bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis via inhibiting STING-mediated endoplasmic reticulum stress signaling pathway

• Published in: Journal of ethnopharmacology 2023-04, Vol.305, p.116071-116071, Article 116071
• Main Authors: Deng, JiuLing, He, YuQiong, Sun, GuangChun, Yang, Hong, Wang, Liang, Tao, Xia, Chen, WanSheng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Bleomycin - toxicity; Collagen - metabolism; Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress; Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis; Inflammation; Lung; Mice; Pulmonary fibrosis; Signal Transduction; STING; Tanreqing injection
• ISSN: 0378-8741; 1872-7573
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2022.116071

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), characterized by excessive collagen deposition, is a progressive and typically fatal lung disease without effective therapeutic methods. Tanreqing injection (TRQ), a Traditional Chinese Patent Medicine, has been widely used to treat inflammatory respiratory diseases clinically. The present work aims to elucidate the therapeutic effects and the possible mechanism of TRQ against pulmonary fibrosis. The pulmonary fibrosis murine model were constructed by the intratracheal injection of bleomycin (BLM). 7 days later, TRQ-L (2.6 ml/kg) and TRQ-H (5.2 ml/kg) were administered via intraperitoneal injection respectively for 21 days. The efficacy and underlying molecular mechanism of TRQ were investigated. Here, we showed that TRQ significantly inhibited BLM-induced lung edema and pulmonary function. TRQ markedly reduced BLM-promoted inflammatory cell infiltration in BALF and inflammatory cytokines release (TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β) in serum and lung tissues. Meanwhile, TRQ also alleviated BLM-induced collagen synthesis and deposition. Simultaneously, TRQ attenuated BLM-induced pulmonary fibrosis through regulating the expression of fibrotic hallmarks, manifested by down-regulated α-SMA and up-regulated E-cadherin. Moreover, we found that TRQ significantly prevented STING, p-P65, BIP, p-PERK, p-eIF2α, and ATF4 expression in lung fibrosis mice. Taken together, our results indicated that TRQ positively affects inflammatory responses and lung fibrosis by regulating STING-mediated endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) signal pathway. [Display omitted] •Tanreqing injection has been widely used to treat inflammatory respiratory diseases clinically, and active ingredients of it are effective in the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis.•Tanreqing injection significantly alleviated lung injury, lung edema and pulmonary function in bleomycin-induced mice.•Tanreqing injection significantly inhibited inflammatory responses and expression of fibrotic hallmarks in bleomycin-induced mice.•Tanreqing injection positively affects inflammatory responses and lung fibrosis by regulating STING-mediated endoplasmic reticulum stress signal pathway.•This study might yield new insights into Tanreqing injection's potential for treating respiratory illnesses.