Alantolactone-loaded chitosan/hyaluronic acid nanoparticles suppress psoriasis by deactivating STAT3 pathway and restricting immune cell recruitment

Psoriasis is a common chronic immune-mediated skin disease characterized by hyperproliferation and aberrant differentiation of keratinocytes and massive infiltration of inflammatory immune cells.Recent studies showed that Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3(STAT3),which plays an important role in cell survival,proliferation,differentiation,angiogenesis,and immune responses,is constitutively activated in epidermal keratinocytes of human psoriatic skin lesions.In addition,STAT3 promotes the differentiation and expansion of T cells and facilitates cytokine production,thereby exacerbating the condition of psoriasis.Alantolactone(ALT)is a sesquiterpene lactone compound that could selectively suppress STAT3 activation,but its effectiveness and application in psoriasis treatment have not been determined.In this study,we developed ALT loaded chitosan/hyaluronic acid nanoparticles(CHALT),and investigated its therapeutic potential for psoriasis therapy.CHALT effectively abrogated the hyperproliferation by inducing ROS-mediated apoptosis with loss of mitochondrialmembrane potential,and also inhibited IL-6-induced STAT3 signaling activation and inflammatory reaction in HaCaT cell line.In an Imiquimod(IMQ)-induced psoriasis model,the topical treatment of psoriasis lesions with CHALT effectively attenuated the STAT3 hyperactivation within keratinocytes and ameliorated the symptoms of psoriasis.In addition,it was found that CHALT restricted the recruitment of immune cells.These results indicated that ALT-based nanoformulation CHALT holds great potential for psoriasis therapy.

Inhibitory Effects of Natural Compound Alantolactone on Human Non-small Cell Lung Cancer A549 Cells

Alantolactone is a natural compound identified from the roots of Inula helenium L. that has multiple bio-activities. We examined its inhibitory effects on human non-small cell lung cancer（NSCLC） A549 cells. The an-tiproliferative effect of alantolactone on A549 cells was investigated via MTT[3′-（4,5dimethylthiazol-2-yl）-2,5- diphenyl tetrazolium bromide] assay and its apoptosis-inducing effect was determined by Hoechst staining and flow cytometry. We found that alantolactone significantly inhibited the proliferation of A549 cells and induced morphological changes typical for apoptosis. Flow cytometry analysis indicates dose-dependent cell cycle retardation at G0/G1 and S stages. The results indicate that alantolactone could be an attractive small-molecular natural compound for further development as a therapeutic drug against NSCLC.

Bioavailability and pharmacokinetics of alantolactone from Inula helenium in rats following intravenous and oral administrations

Alantolactone, as the principal constituent oflnula Helenium L, has been shown various pharmacologic activities, such as anti-inflammatory and deworming. In the present study, we developed a high performance liquid chromatography （HPLC） method for the determination of alantolactone in rat plasma, and pharmacokinetics of alantolactone was investigated after intravenous and oral administrations to Wistar rats. Separation was achieved on C18 column （4.6 mm×250 mm, 5.0 μm） using a mobile phase consisting of methanol-water （70：30, v/v） at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The wavelength of the ultraviolet detector was set at 239 nm. The excellent linearity was found over a concentration range of 0.08-10 μg/mL （R2 = 0.9998）. The intra- and inter-day precisions were good, and the RSD was lower than 2.27%. The mean absolute recovery of alantolactone in plasma ranged from 88.09% to 95.57%. After intravenous administration, alantolactone showed rapid systemic clearance （CL （0.11±0.014） L/h/kg） and small volume of distribution （Vd （0.71±0.14） L/kg）. The biological half life （t1/2） was 56.24 min. After oral administration, alantolactone showed rapid oral absorption in rats, with a short Tmax of （45.02±0.88） and （45.13±0.39） min for 14 and 28 mg/kg, respectively. The bioavailability of alantolactone in rats was 50.88%, indicating that alantolactone was orally available.

Alantolactone inhibits proliferation,metastasis and promotes apoptosis of human osteosarcoma cells by suppressing Wnt/β-catenin and MAPKs signaling pathways

Although there are many therapeutic strategies such as surgery and chemotherapy,the prognosis of osteosarcoma(OS)is still far from being satisfactory.It is urgent to develop more effective,tolerable and safe drugs for the treatment of OS.In the present study,we investigated the anti-OS activity of Alantolactone(ALT),a natural eucalyptone sesquiterpene lactone mainly exists in Inula helenium,and probed the possible mechanism involved.We demonstrated that ALT significantly inhibited cell proliferation of various human OS cell lines while had relative lower cytotoxicity against normal cells.Then,we validated that ALT reduced migration,decreased invasion possibly through reversing epithelial mesenchymal transition(EMT)process and suppressing Matrix metalloproteinases(MMPs).Moreover,we confirmed that ALT promoted apoptosis and arrested cell cycle at G2/M phase of human OS cells in vitro.In addition,we confirmed that ALT restrained tumor growth and metastasis of OS 143 cells in a xenograft model in vivo.Mechanistically,ALT inhibited the activity of Wnt/β-catenin and p38,ERK1/2 and JNK Mitogen Activated Protein Kinases(MAPKs)signal pathway.Notably,the combination of ALT and Wnt/β-catenin inhibitor,as well as the combination of ALT and MAPKs inhibitors resulted in a synergistically effect on inhibiting the proliferation,migration and invasion of OS cells.Collectively,our results validate the ALT may inhibit proliferation,metastasis and promotes apoptosis of human OS cells possibly through suppressing Wnt/β-Catenin and MAPKs signaling pathways.