Beneficial effect of magnolol on lupus nephritis in MRL/lpr mice by attenuating the NLRP3 inflammasome and NF-kappa B signaling pathway: A mechanistic analysis

摘要

Lupus nephritis (LN) is a common complication of systemic lupus erythematosus. The present study aimed to elucidate the protective effect of magnolol (MG) on the progression of LN, via inhibition of key signaling pathways. The results of the present study demonstrated that administration of MG caused inhibition of the activation of NACHT, LRR and PYD domains-containing protein 3 and interleukin-1 beta production. Histopathological analysis confirmed that the vehicle-treated group exhibited characteristic glomerular disease, which was observed to be suppressed following the administration of MG; a marked decrease in glomerular and vascular lesions was observed compared with the vehicle control. This decrease was further demonstrated through analysis of kidney sections. The expression level of cell surface glycoprotein F4/80 was demonstrated to be markedly decreased in the MG-treated mice compared with the vehicle control group. The MG-treated mice exhibited a marked decrease in serum and renal tumor necrosis factor-alpha expression levels.