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Protective Effect of Trans-chalcone Against High-Fat Diet-Induced Pulmonary Inflammation Is Associated with Changes in miR-146a And pro-Inflammatory Cytokines Expression in Male Rats

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Abstract

High-fat diet (HFD) increases the risk of non-communicable inflammatory diseases including pulmonary disorders. Trans-chalcone is a chalcone with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. This study aimed to explore the effect of this natural compound and molecular mechanism of its effect on HFD-induced pulmonary inflammation. Twenty-eight male Wistar rats were randomly divided into four main groups (n = 7 per each group): control, receiving 10% tween 80; Chal, receiving trans-chalcone, HFD, receiving a high-fat emulsion and 10% tween 80; HFD + Chal, receiving a high-fat emulsion and trans-chalcone. After 6 weeks, the lungs were dissected, and the expression levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and miR-146a were determined using real-time PCR. Moreover, histological analysis was done by hematoxylin and eosin staining. Significant elevations in TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, and miR-146a expression levels (P < 0.001) were observed within the lungs of HFD-fed rats compared with the control. However, oral administration of trans-chalcone reduced TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 (P < 0.001), and miR-146a (P < 0.05) expression levels and also improved HFD-induced histological abnormalities. These findings indicate that trans-chalcone ameliorates lung inflammatory response and structural alterations. It seems that this beneficial effect is associated with the down-regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines and miR-146a.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to Dr. Abbas Ebrahimi-Kalan for his assistance in histological study.

Funding

This work was supported by a grant from the Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases Research Center of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran

    Elham Karimi-Sales, Mohammad Reza Alipour & Rafigheh Ghiasi

  2. Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran

    Elham Karimi-Sales & Rafigheh Ghiasi

  3. Department of Physiology, Urmia Faculty of Medical Science, Nephrology and Kidney Transplant Research Center, Urmia University of Medical Science, Urmia, Iran

    Roya Naderi

  4. Department of Medical Genetic, Faculty of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran

    Elham Hosseinzadeh

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  1. Elham Karimi-Sales
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Karimi-Sales, E., Alipour, M.R., Naderi, R. et al. Protective Effect of Trans-chalcone Against High-Fat Diet-Induced Pulmonary Inflammation Is Associated with Changes in miR-146a And pro-Inflammatory Cytokines Expression in Male Rats. Inflammation 42, 2048–2055 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10753-019-01067-1

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