This research investigated the effects of starfish crude extracts inhalation on tissue defense against inflammatory lung and liver damages caused by cigarette smoking and formaldehyde exposures.
For this purpose, two kind of starfish crude extracts were used: (1) the extracts with no tissue damage at all, (2) the extracts with a tissue damage, prepared 8 days after the tissue was damaged, when the expression level of the TGF-β is highest.
To assess protection and recovery effects against cell damage, prepared extracts were used to treat IMR-90 and HepG2 cells in which inflammatory response were induced by cigarette smoking extracts and formaldehyde treatments.
The results of the experiments are as follows: extracts treatment with tissue damage caused increased proliferation of both cell lines. In addition, elevated level of activated CAT showed that it exerted an effects on antioxidant enzyme activity. Further, decreased level of lipid peroxidation activity showed that the preventive effect against lipid peroxidation through the induction of a cell defense action, as well as cell membrane protection against damage and on cell membrane relaxation. Such results could be interpreted as the extracts having an effect of suppressing the expression of NF-κB and TNF-α which are transcription factors present in inflammatory cells; as well as an effect of suppressing the degradation of IκBα, which inactivates NF-κB to prevent its translocation into the nucleus.
In the experiment for assessing its protection and recovery effects against tissue damage, the ICR mice were subjected to exposure of cigarette smoking and formaldehyde, followed by the inhalation of extracts through a nebulizer. The results also showed that the positive effects on the activation of CAT, an antioxidant enzyme present in lung and liver tissues. In addition, decrement of lipid peroxidation activity confirmed that it suppressed lipid peroxidation through a tissue defense action against the cigarette smoking and formaldehyde exposure. Protein expression pattern also confirmed its recovery effects against inflammation, through the suppression of NF-κB and TNF-α expression and of IκBα degradation. Decrement of SP-A expression in lung tissue was another evidence for its effect on the suppression and attenuation of inflammation. For the experiment to assess protection effects by analyzing blood components, the numbers of neutrophils and eosinophils increased after exposure of cigarette smoking and formaldehyde, confirming that such environmental pollutants could act as a causative factor of inflammatory lung diseases; whereas extracts treatment resulted in decreased number of blood cells. In the experiment for the assessment of recovery effects, there were increment of the numbers of lymphocytes and neutrophils. These results considered that the change in blood cells are similar to chronic inflammation, and were caused by prolonged tissue damage period of experiment in comparison with the protection effect experiment. The numbers of blood cells decreased after extracts inhalation.
Taken together, the results of this research demonstrated a good effects of the steroidal saponin contained in starfish crude extracts on the lung and liver damages caused by the inhalation of environmental pollutants, such as cigarette smoking and formaldehyde. The crude extracts of a starfish with tissue damage, prepared 8 days after the tissue was damaged, showed much higher anti-inflammatory and regeneration effects than the crude extracts of a starfish without tissue damage at all.