Dehydrocostus lactone alleviates irinotecan-induced intestinal mucositis by blocking TLR4/MD2 complex formation.

Background: Irinotecan (CPT-11) is used as chemotherapeutic drug for treatment of colorectal cancer. However, without satisfactory treatments, its gastrointestinal toxicities such as diarrhea and intestinal inflammation severely restrained its clinical application. Roots of Aucklandia lappa Decne. are used as traditional Chinese medicine to relieve gastrointestinal dysfunction and dehydrocostus lactone (DHL) is one of its main active components. Nevertheless, the efficacy and mechanism of DHL against intestinal mucositis remains unclear.

Purpose: The present study aimed to investigate the protective effects of DHL on CPT-11-induced intestinal mucositis and its underlying mechanisms.

Methods: The protective effect of DHL was investigated in CPT-11-induced mice and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)+CPT-11 induced THP-1 macrophages. Body weight, diarrhea score, survival rate, colon length, and histopathological changes in mice colon and jejunum were analyzed to evaluate the protective effect of DHL in vivo. And DHL on reducing inflammatory response and regulating TLR4/NF-κB/NLRP3 pathway in vivo and in vitro were explored. Moreover, DHL on the interaction between TLR4 and MD2 was investigated. And silencing TLR4 targeted by siRNA was performed to validate the mechanisms of DHL on regulating the inflammation.

Results: DHL prevented CPT-11-induced intestinal damage, represented by reducing weight loss, diarrhea score, mortality rate and the shortening of the colon. Histological analysis confirmed that DHL prevented intestinal epithelial injury and improved the intestinal barrier function in CPT-11 induced mice. Besides, DHL significantly downregulated the level of inflammatory cytokines by inhibiting TLR4/NF-κB/NLRP3 signaling pathway in CPT-11-induced mice and LPS+CPT-11-induced THP-1 macrophages. In addition, DHL blocked TLR4/MD2 complex formation. Molecular docking combined with SIP and DARTS assay showed that DHL could bind to TLR4/MD2 and occludes the hydrophobic pocket of MD2. Furthermore, Silencing TLR4 abrogated the effect of DHL on LPS+CPT-11 induced inflammatory response in THP-1 macrophages. Additionally, DHL ameliorate the CPT-11-induced intestinal mucositis without affecting the anti-tumor efficacy of CPT-11 in the tumor xenograft mice.

Conclusion: This study found that DHL exhibited the anti-inflammatory effects in CPT-11-induced intestinal mucositis by inhibiting the formation of TLR4/MD2 complex and then regulation of NF-κB/NLRP3 signaling pathway. DHL is potentially served as a novel strategy of combined medication with CPT-11.