The main bioactive compound of Panax notoginseng, notoginsenoside R1, alleviates pulmonary fibrosis via MBD2/SHIP and STAT3 pathway

Notoginsenoside R1 is known as the main bioactive compound of the traditional Chinese medicine and functional food, Panax notoginseng. Network pharmacology prediction indicated that notoginsenoside R1 might be effective in the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis. This study investigated the effectiveness and pharmacological mechanism of notoginsenoside R1 on attenuating pulmonary fibrosis in mice. The results showed that notoginsenoside R1 alleviated the inflammatory response in the lung by down-regulating the polarization of M1 macrophages via the SOCS3/STAT3 pathway. Meanwhile, notoginsenoside R1 promoted the transcription of SH2 domain containing inositol 5 '-phosphatase (SHIP) by down-regulating methyl-CpG binding domain 2 (MBD2) expression, thus attenuated PI3K/AKT-mediated polarization of M2 macrophages, and finally regulated the TGF-beta 1/Smad3 signaling pathway in order to attenuate pulmonary fibrosis. This study presented some possible mechanism of notoginsenoside R1 in the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis, suggesting that P. notoginseng may be served as potential medicined diet in preventing and treating such diseases.

Automated summary

The study found that Notoginsenoside R1 can alleviate the inflammatory response in pulmonary fibrosis by regulating the polarization of macrophages and signaling pathways. This provides scientific evidence for the potential use of P. notoginseng as a medicine and diet in the prevention and treatment of pulmonary fibrosis.