The mechanism of nicotinamide on reducing acute lung injury by inhibiting MAPK and NF-κB signal pathway

BACKGROUND: Acute lung injury is an important factor that leads to the death of patients with pneumonia. Previous studies have shown that nicotinamide (NAM) plays a role in reducing cell damage, so this study explored the mechanism by which NAM functions in acute lung injury. METHODS: We explored the mechanism by which NAM affects acute lung injury in vivo and in vitro by qRT-PCR, western blotting and ELISA. RESULTS: The results showed that NAM could significantly reduce lung injury and proinflammatory mediator accumulation. Further mechanistic studies showed that NAM could significantly inhibit the MAPK and AKT/NF-κB signaling pathways. CONCLUSION: These results suggested that NAM may reduce the release of proinflammatory mediators by inhibiting the MAPK and AKT/NF-κB signaling pathways and ultimately alleviate lung injury. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s10020-021-00376-2.