Piplartine (or
Piperlongumine) is a natural
alkaloid isolated from Piper longum L., which has been proposed to exhibit various biological properties such as anti-inflammatory effects; however, the effect of
piplartine on
sepsis has not been examined. This study was performed to examine the anti-inflammatory activities of
piplartine in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo using murine J774A.1 macrophage cell line, peritoneal macrophages, bone marrow-derived macrophages and an animal
sepsis model. The results demonstrated that
piplartine suppresses iNOS and COX-2 expression, reduces
PGE2, TNF-α and
IL-6 production, decreases the phosphorylation of MAPKs and NF-κB and attenuates NF-κB activity by LPS-activated macrophages.
Piplartine also inhibits IL-1β production and suppresses NLRP3
inflammasome activation by LPS/
ATP- and LPS/
nigericin-activated macrophages. Moreover,
piplartine reduces the production of
nitric oxide (NO) and TNF-α,
IL-6 and IL-1β, decreases LPS-induced tissue damage, attenuates infiltration of inflammatory cells and enhances the survival rate. Collectively, these results demonstrate
piplartine exhibits anti-inflammatory activities in LPS-induced
inflammation and
sepsis and suggest that
piplartine might have benefits for
sepsis treatment.