The Effect of Artesunate on Murine Airway Resistance and Airway Smooth Muscle Cell Traction Force
ZHANG Yifan
WANG Yue
LIU Lei
LI Jingjing
DENG Linhong
Abstract：Artesunate is a derivative of the well-known anti-malarial drug, artemisinin.It has been shown to inhibit airway inflammation in animal models of asthma, but is yet to be studied for its effect on airway resistance (Raw) and airway smooth muscle cell (ASMC) traction force.Since Raw and ASMC traction force are key elements in the pathogenesis and treatment of asthma, we thus evaluated the effect of artesunate on Raw and ASMC traction force with experimental mouse model of asthma.Mouse model of asthma was established by ovalbumin sensitization and challenge, and then tested for Raw w/o administration of artesunate at given dosage.On the other hand, ASMCs were harvested from the mouse lung and cultured in vitro.Subsequently, the in vitro cultured ASMCs were tested for traction force by using Fourier Transform Traction Force Cytometry (FTTC) in the absence or presence of artesunate.The results showed that artesunate dose dependently reduced Raw of the asthma mouse models, and 120μg artesunate was comparable to 3μg salbutamol (conventional asthma therapy) in effect of Raw reduction.Artesunate also attenuated traction force generated by in vitro ASMCs, together with increase of intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i).These results suggest that artesunate may be an inexpensive potential airway dilator, which provides new drug alternative choice for treating bronchial asthma.
Keywords：ArtesunateAirway resistanceAirway smooth muscle cellTraction forceAsthma
Publication Date：2017-01-01
Online Publishing Date：2026-09-11(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：6( 191-196 )