To observe the effects of different dosage forms of Yupingfeng powder on lipopolysaccharide induced pyroptosis of mouse lung macrophages.

The RAW264.7 cells were randomly divided into normal, model, decoction piece and granule groups. Except for normal group, the other 3 groups were used lipopolysaccharide concentration to conduct a cellular inflammation model. No drug will be given to the normal group, and normal cultivation; the model group was treated with lipopolysaccharide; the decoction piece group was treated with lipopolysaccharide and decoction piece containing serum; the granule group was treated with lipopolysaccharide and granule containing serum. The macrophage inflammatory factor was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The expression levels of cell pyroptosis pathway protein were detected by Western blot.

The tumor necrosis factor -α (TNF-α) contents in cell supernatant of normal, model, decoction piece and granule groups were (48.19±12.00), (154.48±34.84), (125.80±29.66) and (125.73±28.88) pg·mL^-1; the interleukin (IL) -18 levels were (21.36±4.36), (78.33±14.41), (49.77±9.50) and (49.27±9.40) pg·mL^-1; the Caspase-1 levels were (39.72±10.58), (149.49±20.92), (93.25±16.73) and (91.93±16.45) pg·mL^-1; the IL-1β levels were (17.14±3.41), (74.43±16.04), (45.01±9.40) and (43.34±8.96) pg·mL^-1; the relative expression levels of TNF-α mRNA were 1.00±0.05, 2.17±0.07, 1.50±0.20 and 1.35±0.08; the relative expression levels of nuclear factor kappa-B mRNA were 1.00±0.01, 2.02±0.01, 1.52±0.01 and 1.50±0.03; the relative expression levels of IL-18 mRNA were 1.00±0.03, 1.48±0.04, 1.18±0.04 and 1.13±0.10; the relative expression levels of Caspase-1 mRNA were 1.00±0.04, 1.90±0.03, 1.59±0.04 and 1.49±0.10; the relative expression levels of IL-1β mRNA were 1.00±0.10, 1.74±0.08, 1.26±0.06 and 1.23±0.13, respectively. Compared with the model group, there were statistically significant differences of the above indicators in the granule group and the decoction piece group (P<0.05, P<0.01), but there were no statistically significant differences in the above indicators between the decoction piece group and the granule group (all P>0.05).

Both formulations of Yupingfeng powder can reduce the expression level of proteins on the cell pyroptosis pathway and inhibit inflammatory response.