Aquaporins (AQPs) as a marker in the physiology of inflammation and its interaction studies with garcinol

Aquaporins like AQP1, AQP3, and AQP4 are known to be involved in the pathophysiology of inflammation based on earlier reports. This study aimed to evaluate the involvement of Aquaporins as a potential target of inflammation. The study also investigates the efficacy of methanolic extract of Garcinia (GME) and its potent phytocompound (garcinol) against the Aquaporins involved in inflammation. siRNA silencing of AQP3 was carried out in RAW264.7 cells followed by LPS stimulation (1 mu g/ml) and assessment of important markers of inflammation including NO, PGE2, TNF-alpha, IL-6, IL-1 beta, CCL20, iNOS and COX-2. To assess the anti-inflammatory potential of Garcinia extract and garcinol, cells were stimulated with 1 mu g/ml LPS in the absence and presence of increasing concentrations of GME and garcinol. During the experimental period, extract concentrations (115 mu g/ml and 230 mu g/ml for RAW264.7; 118 mu g/ml and 236 mu g/ml for THP-1) and garcinol concentrations (6 mu M and 12 mu M for RAW264.7; 3 mu M and 6 mu M for THP-1) were selected based on the IC50. The anti-inflammatory effects were assessed by measuring the levels of TNF-alpha, IL-1 beta, IL-6, and CCL20 in LPS-stimulated cells. The AQP expression was studied at transcriptional and translational levels using qPCR and Western blot analysis respectively. AQP3 knockdown significantly decreased the NO, PGE2, TNF-alpha, IL-1 beta levels along with iNOS and COX-2 mRNA expression. LPS stimulation led to a significant increase in the mRNA and protein level expression AQP1, AQP3, and AQP4 in RAW264.7 cells; and AQP1 and AQP3 in THP-1 cells indicating their role as markers of inflammation. GME and garcinol effectively suppressed the LPS-induced proinflammatory cytokine production in both cell lines. The results indicate that AQP1, AQP3, and AQP4 could play a crucial role as markers of inflammation. Anti-inflammatory agents like Garcinia could potentially decrease the expression of such AQPs, thus inhibiting the inflammatory process.