1. Rosmarinic acid alleviates fungal keratitis caused by Aspergillus fumigatus by inducing macrophage autophagy.
- Author
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Wang, Ziyi, Lin, Jing, Wang, Qian, Fu, Yudong, Gu, Lingwen, Tian, Xue, Yu, Bing, Fu, Xueyun, Zheng, Hengrui, Li, Cui, and Zhao, Guiqiu
- Subjects
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ROSEMARY , *ROSMARINIC acid , *FUNGAL keratitis , *ASPERGILLUS fumigatus , *MACROPHAGES , *AUTOPHAGY - Abstract
Fungal keratitis (FK) is an infectious keratopathy can cause serious damage to vision. Its severity is related to the virulence of fungus and response of inflammatory. Rosmarinic acid (RA) extracted from Rosmarinus officinalis exhibits antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-viral properties. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of RA on macrophage autophagy and its therapeutic effect on FK. In this study, we demonstrated that RA reduced expression of proinflammatory cytokine, lessened the recruitment of inflammatory cells in FK. The relative contents of autophagy markers, such as LC3 and Beclin-1, were significantly up-regulated in RAW 264.7 cells and FK. In addition, RA restored mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) of macrophage to normal level. RA not only reduced the production of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) but also mitochondria ROS (mtROS) in macrophage. At the same time, RA induced macrophage to M2 phenotype and down-regulated the mRNA expression of IL-6, IL-1β, TNF-α. All the above effects could be offset by the autophagy inhibitor 3-Methyladenine (3-MA). Besides, RA promote phagocytosis of RAW 264.7 cells and inhibits spore germination, biofilm formation and conidial adherence, suggesting a potential therapeutic role for RA in FK. • RA reduced the severity of keratitis and proinflammatory cytokine expression in vivo. • RA up-regulated the autophagy in RAW 264.7 cells and infected corneas. • 3-MA significantly counteracted the effects of RA on ameliorating FK. • RA reduced the ROS and mtROS in infected RAW 264.7 cells. • RA induced M2 phenotype of macrophage and exhibited antifungal property. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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