Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (
COPD) is one of the major causes of death worldwide today, and its related morbidity has been predicted to show an increase in subsequent years. Recent studies have shown that Danshen, a Chinese herbal medicine, is a potential drug in the treatment of inflammation‑related
lung diseases.
COPD was induced in this study using cigarette
smoke (CS) exposure plus intranasal inhalation of
lipopolysaccharide to ascertain whether the main pharmacological component from Danshen, tanshinone IIA (TIIA), and its water soluble form,
sodium tanshinone IIA sulfonate (STS), protect against the development of
COPD. The weight, lung function,
hematoxylin and
eosin staining, and Masson Trichrome determinations revealed that TIIA inhalation attenuated lung dysfunction in
COPD mice induced by cigarette
smoke and
lipopolysaccharide exposure. In addition, exosomes derived from TIIA‑treated
COPD mice exerted similar protective effects against
COPD, suggesting that TIIA may protect against
COPD through exosome‑shuttled signals. miR‑486‑5p was found to be a key molecule in mediating the protective effects of exosomes derived from TIIA‑treated
COPD mice using
miRNA sequencing and cellular screening. Treatment of
COPD mice with an agomiR of miR‑486‑5p protected lung function in
COPD mice, and treatment of
COPD mice with an
antagomir of miR‑486‑5p abolished the protective effects of TIIA. Moreover,
luciferase activity reporter assay, RT‑qPCR, and western blot analyses showed that miR‑486‑5p exerted protective effects against
COPD via targeting phosphoinositide‑3‑kinase regulatory subunit 1 (PIK3R1). These results suggest that STS protects against
COPD through upregulation of miR‑486‑5p, and that TIIA or miR‑486‑5p is a potential drug for the treatment of
COPD.