Evidence mapPaperPMID 41794407Full record

ArticleImmunity, inflammation and disease2026

Albiflorin Relieves Intervertebral Disc Degeneration Through Inhibiting Nucleus Pulposus Cell via the p38 MAPK/NF-κB Pathway.

Kai Yang, Yanping Cheng, Dan Yang

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Article in Immunity, inflammation and disease, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

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2citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

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3 · Its place in the literature

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2 citing papers in PubMed.

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Kai YangDepartment of Rehabilitation Medical, Yangtze River Shipping General Hospital, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.
Yanping ChengDepartment of Rehabilitation Medical, Yangtze River Shipping General Hospital, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.
Dan YangDepartment of Rehabilitation Medical, Hankou Hospital of Wuhan, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0009-0289-7775

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAs a chronic musculoskeletal disorder, intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) is a leading cause of low back pain. Inflammatory response plays a key role in the IDD progression. Albiflorin (AF), a bioactive compound derived from Paeonia lactiflora, exhibits anti-inflammatory effects in various diseases. However, the effects of AF on IDD remain unexplored. This study explored the protective effect of AF against IDD and elucidate its possible mechanisms.

methodsNucleus pulposus (NP) cells were stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS ) for 24 h to establish the IDD cell model, followed by AF or p38MAPK agonist (P79350) treatment. Cell viability and apoptosis were evaluated using 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU) assay and flow cytometry analysis, respectively. Levels of the Inflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor alpha, TNF-α; interleukin-1beta, IL-1β; IL-6) were assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The mRNA levels of B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2), Bcl-2-Associated X (Bax), aggrecan, and collagen type II was analyzed by reverse transcriptase-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), while their protein levels were determined by western blot assay.

resultsLPS induction remarkably inhibited NP cell proliferation (p < 0.001) and induced apoptosis (p < 0.001), which were significantly reversed by AF dose-dependently. Furthermore, AF treatment dose-dependently decreased extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation and inflammatory factors secretion in LPS-induced NP cells, evidenced by enhanced aggrecan and collagen type II protein expression (all p < 0.01), and reduced TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 section (all p < 0.05). Mechanistically, AF exerted its protective effects by suppressing the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)/nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) signaling pathway, as evidenced by reduced phosphorylation of p38 and p65 (all p < 0.01). Notably, co-treatment with P79350 partially abolished the protective effects of AF against LPS-induced NP cell damage.

conclusionAF relieved IDD through repressing NP cell apoptosis, inflammatory response, and ECM degradation through the p38 MAPK/NF-κB pathway, indicating that it is a potential IDD therapeutic agent.

Indexed as

Intervertebral Disc DegenerationNF-kappa BNucleus Pulposusp38 Mitogen-Activated Protein KinasesAnimalsApoptosisCells, CulturedCell SurvivalCytokinesHumansLipopolysaccharidesSignal TransductionCytokinesLipopolysaccharidesNF-kappa Bp38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinasesalbiflorinintervertebral disc degenerationnucleus pulposusp38 MAPK/NF‐κB pathway

Identifiers

PMID41794407
PMCPMC12967254

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.