β-Caryophyllene ameliorates the Mycoplasmal pneumonia through the inhibition of NF-κB signal transduction in mice

BACKGROUND: Pneumonia is a frequent infectious disease that mainly affects the children and the global death rate is nearly 19% among children at the below 5 age. β-caryophyllene is an active compound, mainly occurs in the spices and it possesses immense biological activities. OBJECTIVE: This investigation deliberated to scrutinize the beneficial actions of β-caryophyllene against the M. pneumoniae induced pneumonia. METHODS: The pneumonia was stimulated to the BALB/c mice by infecting them with 100 µl of M. pneumonia for 2 days via nasal drops with the concomitant treatment with 20 mg/kg of β-caryophyllene. The total cells in the BALF of test mice were counted by using the Neuber chamber. The total protein and the pro-inflammatory cytokines status were examined by using the commercial ELISA kits. The PCR technique was used to measure the M. pneumoniae bacterial load. The NF-ƙB expression was investigated using western blotting. The lung tissues were analyzed microscopically. RESULTS: The β-caryophyllene notably diminished the total protein status, total cell count, and bacterial load in the pneumonia provoked mice. The marked reduction in the status of pro-inflammatory regulators was seen in the β-caryophyllene supplemented pneumonia mice. β-caryophyllene also down-regulated the expression of NF-ƙB thereby reduced the lung inflammation and tissue damages as seen in the result of histological analysis. CONCLUSION: These findings were confirmed the therapeutic potential of β-caryophyllene against the M. pneumoniae-activated pneumonia in animals.