Effect of Vernonia Cinerea in Improvement of Respiratory Tissue in Chronic Nicotine Treatment
Chamaibhorn Promputta MSc*, Vipavee Anupunpisit PhD**, Busaba Panyarachun PhD**, Tarinee Sawatpanich PhD**, Rith Watthanachaiyingcharoen PhD***, Ornlaksana Paeratakul PhD****, Narisa Kamkaen PhD*****, Hattaya Petpiboolthai MSc**
Affiliation : * Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Science, Rungsit University, Pathumthani, Thailand ** Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Srinakharinwirot University, Bangkok, Thailand *** Department of Biopharmaceutical, Faculty of Pharmacy, Srinakharinwirot University, Nakhon Nayok, Thailand **** Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Srinakharinwirot University, Nakhon Nayok, Thailand ***** Research and Development Institute, Saun Dusit Rajabhat University, Bangkok, Thailand
Objective : To demonstrate the effect of Vernonia cinerea (VC) on rat respiratory tissue in chronic nicotine condition.
Material and Method: Pathology of rat respiratory tissue was induced by intraperitoneally injection with 1 mg/kg BW of rat.
Male Wistar rats were divided into three groups, control group (C), nicotine treated group (N) and nicotine treated with
Vernonia cinerea (VC) supplementation (NV, 100 mg/kg BW of rat) for 3 and 6 months. The animals were sacrificed and the
respiratory tissues were removed and further processed for paraffin embedment and stained with Hematoxylin & Eosin
(H&E), Periodic Acid Schiff (PAS), and Masson’s trichrome techniques.
Results : The histopathology of lung tissue and trachea occurred in a chronic nicotine treatment. The thickness of alveolar
walls and proliferation of alveolar type 2 cell were found. There was remarkable increasing of various inflammatory cells,
alveolar macrophages, lymphocytes and plasma cells after nicotine treatment for 6 months. A large number of small blood
vessels appeared in the alveolar wall. Nicotine also caused fibrosis which dispersed throughout the lung parenchyma in
perivascular, peribronchiole and alveolar wall regions. Moreover, there was the appearance of epithelial cell injury and
goblet cell hyperplasia in the trachea. Regarding the VC supplementation, the result of a recovery of alveolar walls, i.e.
decreasing of various inflammatory cells and alveolar type 2 cells was clearly demonstrated. In addition, the fibrosis and
goblet cell hyperplasia were almost disappeared in the lung tissue after VC treatment.
Conclusion : Administration of VC in a chronic nicotine treatment resulted in an improvement of respiratory tissue. The
recovery of the respiratory tract, especially trachea and lung tissue was characterized by the remarkable decrease of various
inflammatory cells, fibrotic areas, and goblet cell hyperplasia. The VC, therefore shows the potential effect to be a new herbal
therapeutic agent for alleviate the symptoms of the respiratory tract caused by nicotine from heavy cigarette smoke.
Keywords : Nicotine, Cigarette smoke, Vernonia cinerea, Respiratory tissue, Fibrosis, Goblet cell hyperplasia
