Hypericum Perforatum Extract inhibits Cigarette Smoke Induced Lung Inflammation

Halil Mahir Kaplan^*1, Figen DORAN²

1. Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Cukurova University, 01330 Adana, Turkey.

2. Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Cukurova University, 01330 Adana, Turkey.

Abstract: Hypericum perforatum, is a plant which blooms between july and september at farms, borders of roads and woods, top of hills and grasslands, whose anti-inflammatory effects are shown in various studies. It is shown that cigarette smoke causes increase in inflammation mediators on lung. Due to this reason, we planned a study to examine the protective effects of Hypericum perforatum aganist smoke exposure induced lung damage in mice. For this purpose, mice exposured to smoke during 2 mounth and 70 mg/kg Hypericum perforatum extract per a day and cyclooxygenase-2, cytosolic phospholipase A2(cPLA₂) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) enzymes in their lungs are analyzed by using ELISA method. Smoke exposure increased the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), cPLA₂ and iNOS enzymes. Hypericum perforatum administration to mice that are exposured to smoke previously decreased the rate of increase of the cPLA₂, cyclooxygenase-2 and iNOS In conclusion, our study shows that the smoke exposre causes inflammation induced lung damage and the use of Hypericum perforatum extract can be helpful against this toxic effect.

Keywords: Cigarette smoke, Lung, Hypericum perforatum, cyclooxygenase-2, cytosolic phospholipase A2 and inducible nitric oxide synthase.

Pages: 35 – 43 | Full PDF Paper