Effects of Ergosterol, Isolated from Scleroderma Polyrhizum Pers., on Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Inflammatory Responses in Acute Lung Injury

The present study aimed to investigate the protective role of ergosterol, isolated from Scleroderma polyrhizum Pers., in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute lung injury (ALI). ALI was induced in mice by LPS (0.5 mg/kg), and ergosterol (25 and 50 mg/kg) was administrated orally 1 h prior to LPS administration. Ergosterol pretreatment at doses of 25 and 50 mg/kg decreased LPS-induced lung histopathological changes, lung wet-to-dry weight ratio. In addition, pretreatment with ergosterol inhibited inflammatory cells and proinflammatory cytokines including tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6). Furthermore, we demonstrated that ergosterol blocked the activation of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB), cyclooxygenase (COX)-2, and nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) pathways. The results presented here suggest that the protective mechanism of ergosterol may be attributed partly to the inhibition of NF-κB, COX-2, and iNOS pathways.