Qingfei Tongluo Formula Mitigates Mycoplasma pneumoniae Infection via the PERK Signaling Pathway

Abstract

Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (MPP) is usually found in school-aged children and relapses easily because of antibiotic resistance. The Qingfei Tongluo formula (QTF) is a clinically used traditional Chinese medicine to treat MPP. Our previous study demonstrated that QTF exhibited ameliorative effects on the experimental MPP mice model. In this study, the function and underlying QTF mechanism in MPP was attempted to be further explored. Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) was applied to infect A549 cells and BALB/c mice to mimic MPP in vitro and in vivo. Cytokine release and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production were analyzed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) assay and flow cytometry. Western blot analysis was used to detect the protein involved in ER stress. MP infection was found to enhance cytokine release and ER stress in vitro and in vivo, and this effect could be alleviated by QTF. Moreover, protein kinase RNA-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK) knockdown alleviated MP infection-induced cytokine release, ROS production, and ER stress in A549 cells while the PERK overexpression exhibited the opposite effects. In conclusion, QTF alleviated MP infection-induced cytokine release, ROS production, and ER stress via PERK signaling pathway inhibition.