Rosmarinic acid potentiates carnosic acid induced apoptosis in lung fibroblasts

PLoS One. 2017 Sep 6;12(9):e0184368. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0184368. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

Pulmonary fibrosis is characterized by over-population and excessive activation of fibroblasts and myofibroblasts disrupting normal lung structure and functioning. Rosemary extract rich in carnosic acid (CA) and rosmarinic acid (RA) was reported to cure bleomycin-(BLM)-induced pulmonary fibrosis. We demonstrate that CA decreased human lung fibroblast (HLF) viability with IC50 value of 17.13±1.06 μM, while RA had no cytotoxic effect. In the presence of 50 μM of RA, dose-response for CA shifted to IC50 value of 11.70±1.46 μM, indicating synergic action. TGFβ-transformed HLF, rat lung fibroblasts and L929 cells presented similar sensitivity to CA and CA+RA (20μM+100μM, respectively) treatment. Rat alveolar epithelial cells died only under CA+RA treatment, while A549 cells were not affected. Annexin V staining and DNA quantification suggested that HLF are arrested in G0/G1 cell cycle phase and undergo apoptosis. CA caused sustained activation of phospho-Akt and phospho-p38 expression and inhibition of p21 protein.Addition of RA potentiated these effects, while RA added alone had no action.Only triple combination of inhibitors (MAPK-p38, pan-caspase, PI3K/Akt/autophagy) partially attenuated apoptosis; this suggests that cytotoxicity of CA+RA treatment has a complex mechanism involving several parallel signaling pathways. The in vivo antifibrotic effect of CA and RA was compared with that of Vitamine-E in BLM-induced fibrosis model in rats. We found comparable reduction in fibrosis score by CA, RA and CA+RA, attenuation of collagen deposition and normalization of oxidative stress markers. In conclusion, antifibrotic effect of CA+RA is due to synergistic pro-apoptotic action on lung fibroblasts and myofibroblasts.

MeSH terms

  • Abietanes / pharmacology*
  • Animals
  • Apoptosis*
  • Bleomycin
  • Catalase / metabolism
  • Cell Cycle
  • Cell Line
  • Cell Movement
  • Cell Proliferation / drug effects
  • Cinnamates / pharmacology*
  • Collagen / metabolism
  • Depsides / pharmacology*
  • Fibroblasts / drug effects*
  • Humans
  • Hydroxyproline / metabolism
  • Inhibitory Concentration 50
  • Lipid Peroxidation
  • Lung / cytology
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Oxidative Stress
  • Plant Extracts / pharmacology
  • Pulmonary Alveoli / metabolism
  • Pulmonary Fibrosis / drug therapy
  • Rats
  • Rats, Wistar
  • Rosmarinic Acid
  • Signal Transduction
  • Superoxide Dismutase / metabolism
  • Vitamin E / metabolism
  • p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / metabolism

Substances

  • Abietanes
  • Cinnamates
  • Depsides
  • Plant Extracts
  • Bleomycin
  • Vitamin E
  • Collagen
  • Catalase
  • Superoxide Dismutase
  • p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases
  • salvin
  • Hydroxyproline

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Technology to SJ and by Funds from Université libre de Bruxelles to KM. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.