Ellagic Acid Prevents Particulate Matter-Induced Pulmonary Inflammation and Hyperactivity in Mice: A Pilot Study

Sunyoung Jeong, Sungryong Bae, Eui-Cheol Shin, Jong-Hwa Lee () and Jung-Heun Ha ()
Additional contact information
Sunyoung Jeong: Bioanalytical and Pharmacokinetic Research Group, Korea Institute of Toxicology, Daejeon 34114, Republic of Korea
Sungryong Bae: Department of Fire Protection and Disaster Management, Chosun University, Gwangju 61452, Republic of Korea
Eui-Cheol Shin: Department of GreenBio Science/Food Science and Technology, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju 52725, Republic of Korea
Jong-Hwa Lee: Bioanalytical and Pharmacokinetic Research Group, Korea Institute of Toxicology, Daejeon 34114, Republic of Korea
Jung-Heun Ha: Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Dankook University, Cheonan 31116, Republic of Korea

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 5, 1-16

Abstract: The inhalation of fine particulate matter (PM) is a significant health-related environmental issue. Previously, we demonstrated that repeated PM exposure causes hyperlocomotive activity in mice, as well as inflammatory and hypoxic responses in their lungs. In this study, we evaluated the potential efficacy of ellagic acid (EA), a natural polyphenolic compound, against PM-induced pulmonary and behavioral abnormalities in mice. Four treatment groups were assigned in this study ( n = 8): control (CON), particulate-matter-instilled (PMI), low-dose EA with PMI (EL + PMI), and high-dose EA with PMI (EH + PMI). EA (20 and 100 mg/kg body weight for low dose and high dose, respectively) was orally administered for 14 days in C57BL/6 mice, and after the eighth day, PM (5 mg/kg) was intratracheally instilled for 7 consecutive days. PM exposure induced inflammatory cell infiltration in the lungs following EA pretreatment. Moreover, PM exposure induced inflammatory protein expression in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and the expression of inflammatory (tumor necrosis factor alpha ( Tnfα ), interleukin ( Il ) -1b , and Il-6 ) and hypoxic (vascular endothelial growth factor alpha ( Vegfα ), ankyrin repeat domain 37 ( Ankrd37 )) response genes. However, EA pretreatment markedly prevented the induction of expression of inflammatory and hypoxic response genes in the lungs. Furthermore, PM exposure significantly triggered hyperactivity by increasing the total moving distance with an increase in moving speed in the open field test. On the contrary, EA pretreatment significantly prevented PM-induced hyperactivity. In conclusion, dietary intervention with EA may be a potential strategy to prevent PM-induced pathology and activity.

Keywords: particulate matter; ellagic acid; inflammation; hypoxia; hyperactivity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/5/4523/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/5/4523/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:5:p:4523-:d:1086966

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().