Phytochemical-induced reduction of pulmonary inflammation during Klebsiella pneumoniae lung infection in mice

Abstract

Introduction: Curcumin, a polyphenol derived from the herb Curcuma longa, has number of antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and anti-carcinogenic activities. Its anti-inflammatory property was here studied alone and in combination with clarithromycin in a mouse model of acute inflammation. Methodology: A total of 80 mice divided into four groups were used. Mice receiving curcumin and/or clarithromycin were fed orally with curcumin (150 mg/kg/day) for 15 days prior to infection, whereas clarithromycin was administered orally (30 mg/kg/day) 12 hours post infection. Simultaneously, the control group receiving only infection but no treatment was also set up. Bacterial load estimation, histopathological examination and analysis of inflammatory parameters was performed on various days for all groups. Results: Intranasal inoculation of bacteria resulted in significant increase in neutrophil infiltration along with increased production of various inflammatory mediators (malondialdehyde, myeloperoxidase, nitric oxide, TNFα) in lung tissue. Clarithromycin treatment significantly decreased the bacterial load and other inflammatory components in infected mice, but animals receiving curcumin alone or in combination with clarithromycin showed a much more significant (p < 0.05) reduction in neutrophil influx along with reduced levels of various inflammatory parameters. Though treatment with curcumin did not reduce the bacterial load, in combination with clarithromycin, both bacterial proliferation and lung tissue damage were checked. Conclusions: Though clarithromycin, because of its associated side effects, may not be the preferred treatment, it can be used in conjunction with curcumin. The latter as an adjunct therapy will help to down regulate the exaggerated state of immune response during acute lung infection.

Immunomodulators Inspired by Nature: A Review on Curcumin and Echinacea

“…In this study, mice that received orally curcumin alone or in combination with augmentin showed a significant decrease in neutrophil influx into the lungs and a significant decrease in the production of NO, MPO activity and TNF-α levels [ 86 ]. Similar results have been obtained by combining curcumin and clarithromycin [ 87 ]. Kim et al evaluated also the effects of a dietary supplementation with turmeric on systemic and local immune responses on experimental Eimeria maxima and Eimeria tenella infections in commercial broiler chickens [ 88 ].…”

X-ray Irradiated Vaccine Confers protection against Pneumonia caused by Pseudomonas Aeruginosa

“…For the pneumonia model, mice were anesthetized and inoculated intra-nasally with irradiated ATCC27853 cells to further evaluate the protective effect generated by the vaccine 43 . Briefly, mice were immunized by placing 20 μl of the vaccine inoculums into each nasal (40 μl per mouse totally).…”

Evaluation of the effect of curcumin on pneumonia: A systematic review of preclinical studies

“…Of the 10 publications, which evaluated the therapeutic efficacy of curcumin on pneumonia or acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ALI/ARDS) in vivo, 7 studies used bacteria to generate the mouse model of the diseases, whereas 3 studies used viruses for this purpose. Four studies used S. aureus to generate a mouse model of pneumonia (Wang et al, 2016; Xu et al, 2015, 2016; Ye et al, 2014), 3 studies used K. pneumoniae (Bansal & Chhibber, 2010, 2014; Zhang et al, 2019), 2 studies used Influenza A virus (IAV) (Han et al, 2018; Dai et al, 2018) and one study generated the mouse model using infection with reovirus 1/L (Avasarala et al, 2013).…”

“…For generating pneumonia mouse models, four studies used C57BL/6 mice (Dai et al, 2018; Wang et al, 2016; Xu et al, 2015; Zhang et al, 2019), three studies used BALB/c mice (Bansal & Chhibber, 2010, 2014; Han et al, 2018), one study used CBA/J (Avasarala et al, 2013), one study used FVB/N (Xu et al, 2016) and one study used Kunming mice (Ye et al, 2014). Four studies only used female mice (Avasarala et al, 2013; Han et al, 2018; Wang et al, 2016; Xu et al, 2015) while the other studies used both male and female mice (Bansal & Chhibber, 2010, 2014; Dai et al, 2018; Xu et al, 2016; Ye et al, 2014; Zhang et al, 2019). The mice were subcutaneously injected with curcumin at doses 10–150 mg/kg/day from 15 days before the intranasal inoculation of viruses or bacteria to several hours after the inoculation, depending on the study.…”