Allergic
asthma is a lifelong airway condition that affects people of all ages. In recent decades,
asthma prevalence continues to increase globally, with an estimated number of 250,000 annual deaths attributed to the disease. Although inhaled
corticosteroids and β-
adrenergic receptor agonists are the primary therapeutic avenues that effectively reduce
asthma symptoms, profound side effects may occur in patients with long-term treatments. Therefore, development of new therapeutic strategies is needed as alternative or supplement to current
asthma treatments.
Sesamin is a natural polyphenolic compound with strong anti-oxidative effects. Several studies have reported that
sesamin is effective in preventing
hypertension, thrombotic tendency, and
neuroinflammation. However, it is still unknown whether
sesamin can reduce
asthma-induced allergic
inflammation and
airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR). Our study has revealed that
sesamin exhibited significant anti-inflammatory effects in
ovalbumin (OVA)-induced murine
asthma model. We found that treatments with
sesamin after OVA sensitization and challenge significantly decreased expression levels of
interleukin-4 (IL-4),
IL-5,
IL-13, and serum
IgE. The numbers of total inflammatory cells and eosinophils in BALF were also reduced in the
sesamin-treated animals. Histological results demonstrated that
sesamin attenuated OVA-induced eosinophil infiltration, airway goblet cell
hyperplasia, mucus occlusion, and MUC5AC expression in the lung tissue. Mice administered with
sesamin showed limited increases in AHR compared with mice receiving vehicle after OVA challenge. OVA increased phosphorylation levels of IκB-α and nuclear expression levels of NF-κB, both of which were reversed by
sesamin treatments. These data indicate that
sesamin is effective in treating allergic
asthma responses induced by OVA in mice.