Sepsis is a systemic illness for which there are no effective preventive or therapeutic
therapies.
Zerumbone, a natural molecule, has anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory properties that may help to prevent
sepsis. In the present study, we have assessed the protective effect of
zerumbone against
sepsis-induced
acute lung injury (ALI) and its underlying mechanisms. During the experiment, mice were divided into five groups: a
sham group, a
sepsis-induced ALI group, and three
sepsis groups that are pre-treated with
zerumbone at different concentrations. We found that
zerumbone greatly decreased the
sepsis-induced ALI using histological investigations. Also,
zerumbone treatment reduced the
sepsis-induced inflammatory
cytokine concentrations as well as the number of infiltrating inflammatory cells in BALF compared to non-treated
sepsis animals. The
zerumbone-pretreated
sepsis groups had reduced pulmonary
myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity than the
sepsis groups. Moreover, the mechanism underlying the protective action of
zerumbone on
sepsis is accomplished by the activation of
antioxidant genes such as
nitric oxide synthase (iNOS),
cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2),
superoxide dismutase (SOD), and
heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1). The obtained results revealed that
zerumbone inhibited the
sepsis-induced ALI through its anti-inflammatory and antioxidative activity via inhibition of the NF-κB pathway and activation of HO-1 pathway. Our findings demonstrate that
zerumbone pretreatment suppresses
sepsis-induced ALI via antioxidative activities and anti-inflammatory, implying that
zerumbone could be a viable preventive agent for
sepsis-induced ALI.