Berberine-Loaded Biomimetic Nanoparticles Attenuate Inflammation of Experimental Allergic Asthma via Enhancing IL-12 Expression

Abstract

Asthma is one of the most common chronic pulmonary disorders, affecting more than 330 million people worldwide. Unfortunately, there are still no specific treatments for asthma so far. Therefore, it is very important to develop effective therapeutics and medicines to deal with this intractable disease. Berberine (Ber) has fabulous anti-inflammatory and antibacterial effects, while its low water solubility and bioavailability greatly limit its curative efficiency. To improve the nasal mucosa absorption of poorly water-soluble drugs, such as Ber, we developed a platelet membrane- (PM-) coated nanoparticle (NP) system (PM@Ber-NPs) for targeted delivery of berberine to the inflammatory lungs. In vivo, PM@Ber-NPs exhibited enhanced targeting retention in the inflammatory lungs compared with free Ber. In a mouse model of house dust mite- (HDM-) induced asthma, PM@Ber-NPs markedly inhibited lung inflammation, as evident by reduced inflammatory cells and inflammatory cytokines in the lung compared with free Ber. Collectively, our study demonstrated the inhibitory actions of nasally delivered nanomedicines on HDM-induced asthma, primarily through regulating Th1/Th2 balance by enhancing IL-12 expression which could potentially reduce lung inflammation and allergic asthma.

COVID-19 inflammation and implications in drug delivery

“…Also, Jin et al [ 161 ] developed PEV-coated PEG-PLGA NPs for targeted delivery of berberine to the inflammatory lungs. Berberine is a natural alkaloid that fights against COVID-19 by downregulating MAPKinase and NF κ B pathways [ 162 ].…”

“…Berberine is a natural alkaloid that fights against COVID-19 by downregulating MAPKinase and NF κ B pathways [ 162 ]. However, the therapeutic efficiency of berberine may be hampered by its low bioavailability and off-targeting properties in vivo [ 161 ]. Efficiently, the PEV coating enhanced the accumulation of berberine NPs (size:400 nm, surface charge:−23 mV) in inflammatory lungs and alleviated lung inflammation in house dust mite-induced murine inflammation model, revealed by decreased inflammatory cells and cytokines (such as IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13) compared with the free drug or non coated NPs, mainly via regulating Th1/Th2 balance and enhancing IL-12 expression [ 161 ].…”

Cell-derived membrane biomimetic nanocarriers for targeted therapy of pulmonary disease

“…Jin et al developed platelet membrane (PM) coated nanoparticles system (PM/Ber) for delivering berberine (Ber) to the inflammatory lung. PM / Ber successfully targeted to the inflammatory lung at two hours after intravenous injection, and released Ber slowly from 2 h to 48 h, thus reducing allergic asthma ( Jin et al, 2021 ).…”

“… Source Core-nanoparticles Effects/Disease Ref. RBCs PGSC-PTX NSCLC ( Gao et al, 2017 ) PLGA Neutralize bacterial toxins and protect the pulmonary vascular barrier ( Chen et al, 2019 ) OM/PLGA NSCLC ( Chen et al, 2020 ) PXTK, dPPA Breast cancer with lung metastasis ( Yu et al, 2019 ) Platelets uPA Pulmonary embolism ( Yang et al, 2018b ) rt-PA Pulmonary embolism ( Xu et al, 2020 ) DTX/PLGA Lung cancer ( Chi et al, 2019 ) R848 Metastatic carcinoma of lung ( Bahmani et al, 2021 ) Berberine Allergic asthma ( Jin et al, 2021 ) Cancer cells Doxorubicin and icotinib NSCLC ( Wu et al, 2019c ) PTX Metastatic carcinoma of lung ( Sun et al, 2016 ) MSCs DOX/PLGA Lung cancer ( Yang et al, 2018a ) Ng/Ce6 Lung cancer ( Feng et al, 2020 ) Cyp-PMAA-Fe NSCLC ( Yin et al, 2021 ) Macrophages EmtansineLiposome Metastatic carcinoma of lung ( Cao et al, 2016 ) Quercetin, Bi2Se3 Lung metastasis of breast cancer ( …”

High-Throughput and Untargeted Metabolic Profiling Revealed the Potential Effect and Mechanisms of Paeoniflorin in Young Asthmatic Rats

“…At present, the inhaled corticosteroids are the standard treatment for persistent asthma, but its antioxidant effect is not ideal ( Koh et al, 2021 ; Werder et al, 2021 ). This treatment strategy has serious adverse reactions, such as headache, tremor, palpitations, and heart failure ( Bush et al, 2021 ; Jin et al, 2021 ). In recent years, herbal medicine has received more and more attention due to its wide range of pharmacological effects, low toxicity, and few adverse reactions.…”