The Alleviating Impacts of Quercetin on Inflammation and Oxidant-antioxidant Imbalance in Rats with Allergic Asthma

Mohammad Amin Rajizadeh; Mohammad Abbas Bejeshk; Amir Hossein Doustimotlagh; Hamid Najafipour; Maryam Eftekhari; Merat Mahmoodi; Mahdokht Azizi; Fahimeh Rostamabadi; Hossein Pourghadamyari

doi:10.18502/ijaai.v22i2.12675

Mohammad Amin Rajizadeh Student Research Committee, Afzalipour Faculty of Medicine, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
Mohammad Abbas Bejeshk Physiology Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
Amir Hossein Doustimotlagh Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Yasuj University of Medical Sciences, Yasuj, Iran
Hamid Najafipour Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Afzalpour Medical Faculty, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
Maryam Eftekhari Department of Genetics, Hormozgan University of Medical Science, Hormozegan, Iran
Merat Mahmoodi Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
Mahdokht Azizi Department of Pathology, Shahid Beheshti Hospital, Yasuj University of Medical Science, Yasuj, Iran
Fahimeh Rostamabadi Department of Medical Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences, Rafsanjan, Iran
Hossein Pourghadamyari Student Research Committee, Afzalipour Faculty of Medicine, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/ijaai.v22i2.12675

Keywords: Asthma; Inflammation; Oxidative stress; Quercetin

Abstract

Asthma is an inflammatory disease of the airways. We assessed the anti-inflammatory and antioxidative impacts of quercetin, a plant derivative, on inflammatory and oxidative indices in lung tissue and serum of rats with asthma.

Asthma was induced by ovalbumin. Rats were divided into 4 groups: control, asthma+vehicle (Receieved normal saline), asthma+dexamethasone, and asthma+quercetin. After asthma induction, quercetin (50 mg/kg) and dexamethasone (2.5 mg/kg) were injected intraperitoneally once daily for 1 week. On day 50, lung histopathology indices; inflammatory factors; tissue gene expression, including GATA Binding Protein 3 (Gata-3), Tbx21 (T-bet), Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), Il10 (IL-10), Il1b (IL-1β), Il6 (IL-6), Acta2 (α-SMA), and Tnf (TNF-α); and oxidative stress indices (malondialdehyde [MDA], catalase [CAT], glutathione

peroxidase [GPX], superoxide dismutase [SOD], and total antioxidant capacity [TAC]) in tissue and serum, were evaluated.

The results showed that quercetin reduced Gata3, Tnf, Tgfb1, Il1b, and Acta2 gene expression and increased Tbx21 gene expression following asthma. Quercetin also improved oxidative stress by decreasing MDA levels and increasing TAC, CAT, SOD, and GPX levels in serum and lung tissue. Furthermore, quercetin decreased IL6 and TNFα levels and increased IL10 levels in lung tissue after asthma was treated with quercetin.

Quercetin ameliorates oxidative stress and inflammation caused by asthma, especially at the tissue level. Therefore, quercetin can be considered a potent antiasthmatic agent.