Deguelin Attenuates Allergic Airway Inflammation via Inhibition of NF-κb Pathway in Mice

Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease characterized by airway inflammation and remodeling, resulting in a substantial economic burden on both patients and society. Deguelin, a constituent of the Leguminosae family, exhibits anti-proliferative and anti-inflammatory activities in cancer mice models via inhibiting phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases and the NF-kappa B pathway. We demonstrated that deguelin effectively reduced OVA-induced inflammatory cell recruitment, decreased lung tissue inflammation and mucus production, suppressed airway hyperresponsiveness, and inhibited serum immunoglobulin and Th2 cytokine levels in a dose-dependent manner in asthmatic mice. In addition, we found that deguelin reduced inflammatory gene expressions both in vivo and in vitro, which were closely associated with activation of the NF-kappa B signaling pathway. Thus, we further explored the underlying mechanisms of deguelin in normal human bronchial epithelial cells (BEAS-2B). Our results suggested that deguelin inhibited NF-kappa B binding activity by enhancing the ability of I kappa Ba to maintain NF-kappa B in an inactive form in the cytoplasm and preventing the TNF-alpha induced translocation of p65 to the nucleus. In conclusion, our research indicates that deguelin attenuates allergic airway inflammation via inhibition of NF-.B pathway in mice model and may act as a potential therapeutic agent for patients with allergic airway inflammation.