Effects Of Icaritin On Proliferation And Apoptosis Of Pulmonary Fibroblasts

Objective: Abnormal activation and over-growth of lung fibroblasts（LFs）is an important pathological process for airway remodeling in bronchial asthma.Traditional Chinese Medicine such as emodin,curcumin,puerarin,salvia miltiorrhiza and ginkgo biloba extract can inhibit the proliferation and promote the apoptosis of lung fibroblasts,which can be used as potential drug for the treatment of asthma.Icaritin（ICT）is one of the main active constituents of the Epimedium,which can inhibit the proliferation of smooth muscle cells,breast cancer cells and human osteosarcoma cells while promote their apoptosis,but whether it can regulate the proliferation and apoptosis of LFs has not been reported.The aim of this study is to explore whether ICT could regulate LFs proliferation and apoptosis,and hope to provide experimental evidence for ICT potential application in bronchial asthma treatment.Methods:（1）Human embryonic lung fibroblasts（HLFs）were cultured in vitro.（2）HLFs were treated with ICT（0μM,8μM,16μM,24μM,32μM,40μM）for 24,48 and 72 hours respectively,the overall activity of the cells was determined by CCK-8 assay and the proliferation of cells was determined by Edu cell proliferation assay.（3）HLFs were treated with ICT at a concentration of 0μM and 32μM for 24 hours,and apoptosis was detected by one-step TUNEL apoptosis in situ detection kit and flow cytometry.Results:（1）The CCK-8 assay showed that ICT could inhibit the HLFs viability in dose-and time-dependent manner.（2）Edu staining assay showed that ICT could dose dependently inhibit the proliferation of HLFs.（3）One-step TUNEL apoptosis assay and flow cytometry showed that ICT could induce HLFs apoptosis.Conclusions:（1）ICT could inhibit HLFs proliferation in dose-and time-dependent manner.（2）ICT could promote apoptosis of HLFs.（3）ICT may inhibit the abnormal activation and proliferation of fibroblasts in asthma,thereby improving airway remodeling.