Agarwood Oil Nanoemulsion Attenuates Cigarette Smoke-Induced Inflammation and Oxidative Stress Markers in BCi-NS1.1 Airway Epithelial Cells

• Published in: Nutrients Vol. 15; no. 4; p. 1019
• Main Authors: De Rubis, Gabriele, Paudel, Keshav Raj, Manandhar, Bikash, Singh, Sachin Kumar, Gupta, Gaurav, Malik, Raniya, Shen, Jessie, Chami, Aniss, MacLoughlin, Ronan, Chellappan, Dinesh Kumar, Oliver, Brian Gregory George, Hansbro, Philip Michael, Dua, Kamal
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.02.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: 1-Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase; agarwood; Anti-Inflammatory Agents - pharmacology; Antioxidants; Antioxidants - pharmacology; Care and treatment; Chemical properties; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Cigarette smoke; Cigarette Smoking; Cigarettes; Cough; Cytokines; Detoxification; Development and progression; Dilleniidae; Drug delivery; Drug delivery systems; Enzymes; Epithelial Cells; Epithelium; Essences and essential oils; Essential oils; Gene expression; Glutathione transferase; Health aspects; Health services; Inflammation; Inflammation - metabolism; Inflammatory diseases; Interleukin 10; Interleukin 8; Lung diseases; Lung diseases, Obstructive; nanoemulsion; Nanoemulsions; Nanoparticles; Nicotiana; nutraceuticals; Obstructive lung disease; Oils & fats; Oxidants; Oxidative Stress; Oxidizing agents; Pharmacokinetics; Physiological aspects; phytoceuticals; Plant extracts; Platelet-derived growth factor; Proteins; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - metabolism; Relaxin; Respiratory diseases; Respiratory tract; Risk factors; Signal transduction; Signs and symptoms; Smoke; Smoking; Tumor necrosis factor-TNF; γ-Interferon; Australia; phytoceuticals; inflammation; nutraceuticals; drug delivery; agarwood; cigarette smoke; nanoemulsion; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• DOI: 10.3390/nu15041019
• ISSN: 2072-6643

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an irreversible inflammatory respiratory disease characterized by frequent exacerbations and symptoms such as cough and wheezing that lead to irreversible airway damage and hyperresponsiveness. The primary risk factor for COPD is chronic cigarette smoke exposure, which promotes oxidative stress and a general pro-inflammatory condition by stimulating pro-oxidant and pro-inflammatory pathways and, simultaneously, inactivating anti-inflammatory and antioxidant detoxification pathways. These events cause progressive damage resulting in impaired cell function and disease progression. Treatments available for COPD are generally aimed at reducing the symptoms of exacerbation. Failure to regulate oxidative stress and inflammation results in lung damage. In the quest for innovative treatment strategies, phytochemicals, and complex plant extracts such as agarwood essential oil are promising sources of molecules with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity. However, their clinical use is limited by issues such as low solubility and poor pharmacokinetic properties. These can be overcome by encapsulating the therapeutic molecules using advanced drug delivery systems such as polymeric nanosystems and nanoemulsions. In this study, agarwood oil nanoemulsion (agarwood-NE) was formulated and tested for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potential in cigarette smoke extract (CSE)-treated BCi-NS1.1 airway basal epithelial cells. The findings suggest successful counteractivity of agarwood-NE against CSE-mediated pro-inflammatory effects by reducing the expression of the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-8, and GDF-15. In addition, agarwood-NE induced the expression of the anti-inflammatory mediators IL-10, IL-18BP, TFF3, GH, VDBP, relaxin-2, IFN-γ, and PDGF. Furthermore, agarwood-NE also induced the expression of antioxidant genes such as GCLC and GSTP1, simultaneously activating the PI3K pro-survival signalling pathway. This study provides proof of the dual anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity of agarwood-NE, highlighting its enormous potential for COPD treatment.