The total alkaloid fraction of bulbs of Fritillaria cirrhosa displays anti-inflammatory activity and attenuates acute lung injury.

BACKGROUND

Bulb of Fritillaria cirrhosa D.Don (BFC) has been wildly used in China for a long time for folk medicine since its significant therapeutic effects on respiratory diseases, such as cough, expectoration, pneumonia and bronchial inflammation, which are related to respiratory inflammatory response. However, there is a lack of investigation on the in vivo anti-inflammatory properties of BFC.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to evaluate the in vivo anti-inflammatory activity of the purified total alkaloid fraction of BFC (TAF) by using different animal models of inflammation to provide scientific evidence for its traditional use.

METHODS

The total alkaloid fraction from BFC was prepared by using H-103 resin column. Anti-inflammatory effect of TAF was evaluated by models of acetic acid-induced capillary permeability accentuation, carrageenan-induced rat paw edema, cotton pellet-induced granuloma formation and LPS-induced acute lung injury (ALI). The level of cytokines (TNF, IL-6, IL-4 and IL-10) was measured by ELISA. Histopathological analyses were performed by using hematoxylin and eosin staining.

RESULTS

TAF can inhibit acetic acid-induced capillary permeability accentuation, carrageenan-induced paw edema, cotton pellet-induced granuloma formation, suppress inflammatory cells recruitment and cytokine production in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from LPS-induced ALI mice, and attenuate pathological changes in the lung tissues of ALI mice.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides scientific evidence for bulb of F. cirrhosa to treat respiratory inflammation.