Shanshan Jia,1,* Pin Guo,2,* Junhua Lu,1 Xujun Huang,3 Laming Deng,4 Yan Jin,5 Lanyan Zhao,6 Xiaofang Fan7 1Department of Respiration, Hengdian Wenrong’s Hospital, Dongyang, People’s Republic of China; 2Lithotriptic Section, Dongyang Red Cross Hospital, Dongyang City, People’s Republic of China; 3Intensive Care Unit, Hengdian Wenrong’s Hospital, Dongyang, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Emergency, Hengdian Wenrong’s Hospital, Dongyang, People’s Republic of China; 5Department of Nursing, Hengdian Wenrong’s Hospital, Dongyang, People’s Republic of China; 6Department of Respiration, Dongyang People’s Hospital, Dongyang City, People’s Republic of China; 7School of Basic Medicine, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou City, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Shanshan JiaDepartment of Respiration, Hengdian Wenrong’s Hospital, No. 99, Guest-Meeting Avenue, Hengdian Town, Dongyang, 322118, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail jiashsh_ssjias@163.comBackground: Curcumol exhibits anti-inflammatory effect, but its effect on chronic asthma lacked research. Therefore, this study explored the role of curcumol in asthma.Methods: A chronic asthmatic mice model was established by ovalbumin induction. After treatment with curcumol, airway resistance in mice was detected by forced oscillation technique. The histopathological features of airway tissues, pulmonary inflammation, and inflammation cell recruitment in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of mice were detected by hematoxylin-eosin staining. Collagen deposition in the airways of mice was examined by Masson staining. The secretion of ovalbumin-IgE, IL-4, IL-5, IL-13 in mouse serum and VEGFA secretion in BALF were analyzed by ELISA. Finally, the expressions of β-catenin, Wnt5a, VEGFA, TGF-β 1, Fibronectin, and MMP-9 in mice lung tissues were determined by Western blot or immunohistochemical.Results: Curcumol attenuated airway hyperresponsiveness, airway remodeling, and pulmonary inflammation in chronic asthmatic mice. Curcumol relieved collagen deposition in airway tissues, inflammation cell recruitment in BALF, and reduced the up-regulation of serum ovalbumin-IgE, IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13 and BALF VEGFA in chronic asthmatic mice. In addition, curcumol attenuated the up-regulated expressions of β-catenin, Wnt5a, VEGFA, TGF-β 1, Fibronectin, and MMP-9 in the lung tissues of chronic asthmatic mice, but curcumol treatment did not show such effects on healthy mice.Conclusion: Our findings revealed that curcumol could ameliorate lung inflammation and airway remodeling by inhibiting the abnormal activation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway in chronic asthmatic mice, indicating that curcumol could be used as a novel anti-asthma drug for basic and clinical research.Keywords: curcumol, chronic asthma, inflammation, airway remodeling, Wnt/β-catenin
