Mingning Qiu, Shuai Zhang, Jinglan Liang, Xuguang Wang, Jie Liu
BACKGROUND: Aloperine (ALO) is a vital alkaloid present in the traditional Chinese herb Sophora alopecuroides, which has demonstrated effective anti-inflammatory activity. However, the effects and the mechanism of action of ALO on cisplatin (CDDP)-induced nephrotoxicity remain unclear. OBJECTIVE: . METHODS: Cell viability, lactate dehydrogenase cytotoxicity, apoptosis, activity of Caspase-Glo 3/7 and 1, in-cell western blotting, immunohistochemical staining, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were performed to assess the influence of ALO on CDDP-treated kidney cells. Inhibitors of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K, LY294002), protein kinase B (Akt, AKT inhibitor VIII), and nuclear factor kappa B (NFκB, BAY 11-7082) were used to determine their potential mechanisms of action. RESULTS: The results indicated that ALO significantly reversed the inhibition of cell viability, cytotoxicity, apoptosis, and the release of inflammatory factors induced by CDDP in kidney cells. ALO attenuated the PI3K/AKT/NFκB-mediated pathway activated by CDDP treatment and downregulated the CDDP-induced nucleotide-binding domain, leucine-rich-containing family, pyrin domain-containing-3 (NLRP3) inflammasome. Furthermore, the PI3K and AKT inhibitors diminished the effects of ALO on CDDP-treated kidney cells. Additionally, NFκB inhibitors reversed the effects of the PI3K and AKT inhibitors on ALO in CDDP-treated kidney cells. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that ALO protects against CDDP-induced injury in kidney cells by modulating the PI3K/AKT/NFκB-mediated NLRP3 inflammasome.