Paeoniflorin attenuates monocrotaline-induced pulmonary arterial hypertension in rats by suppressing TAK1-MAPK/NF-κB pathways

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) characterized by pulmonary vascular remodeling is a lethal disease.Paeoniflorin (PF) is a monoterpene glycoside with numerous beneficial functions, such as vasodilation, anti-inflammation and immunomodulation.This study aims to investigate the effects of PF on monocrotaline (MCT)-induced PAH rats.Our data showed that both prophylactic or therapeutic administration of PF alleviated MCT-induced increasing of right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP), prevented right ventricle hypertrophy and pulmonary arterial remodeling, as well as inhibited inflammatory cell infiltration around pulmonary arteries.Meanwhile, PF blocked MCT-induced endothelial-mesenchymal transition (EndMT) as indicated by the restored expression of endothelial markers in lung.Moreover, PF inhibited MCT-induced down-regulation of bone morphogenetic protein receptor 2 (BMPR2) and suppressed MCT-induced phosphorylation of transforming growth factor-β (TGFβ) activated kinase 1 (TAK1) in vivo.In vitro studies indicated that PF prevented human pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) from platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB)-stimulated proliferation and migration.PF also partially reversed TGFβ1, interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) co-stimulated endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndMT) in cultured human pulmonary artery endothelial cells (HPAECs).Signaling pathway analysis demonstrated that the underlying mechanism might be associated with the inhibition of TAK1-MAPK/NF-κB pathways.Taken together, our results suggested that PF could be a potential drug for the treatment of PAH.