Tiotropium bromide exerts anti-inflammatory activity in a cigarette smoke mouse model of COPD

Tiotropium bromide is a long acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA), marketed under the brand name Spiriva®, for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Besides its proven direct bronchodilatory activity, recent clinical studies demonstrated that tiotropium is able to reduce the exacerbation rate and impact the clinical course of COPD. One significant pathological feature believed to be causative for the progressive nature of COPD is chronic pulmonary inflammation. The aim of the present study was to investigate the anti-inflammatory activity of tiotropium on cigarette smoke-induced pulmonary inflammation in mice. C57Bl/6 mice were exposed to cigarette smoke (CS) for four days with increasing exposure time for up to 6 h per day to elicit pulmonary inflammation and mediator release. One hour before smoke exposure, animals were treated with tiotropium by inhalation (0.01–0.3 mg/mL) for 5 min; 18 h after the last CS exposure a bronchoalveolar lavage was performed. Tiotropium concentration-dependently inhibited pulmonary neutrophilic inflammation with an IC50 of 0.058 mg/mL and a maximum inhibition of 60% at 0.3 mg/mL. Furthermore, the CS-induced pulmonary release of leukotriene B4, interleukin-6, keratinocyte-derived chemokine, monocyte chemotactic protein-1, macrophage inflammatory protein-1alpha and −2, and tumor necrosis factor alpha was dose-dependently reduced. The bronchodilatory activity of tiotropium against acetycholine-induced bronchoconstriction was found to be in the same dose range as the anti-inflammatory activity with an IC50 of 0.045 mg/mL and a maximum bronchodilation of 90% at 0.3 mg/mL. Our data suggest that the beneficial effects of tiotropium on the course of COPD shown in patients may be associated with an anti-inflammatory activity.