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DOI: 10.1055/s-0032-1328068
Silibinin In Vitro Protects A549 Cells from Staphylococcus aureus-Mediated Injury and In Vivo Alleviates the Lung Injury of Staphylococcal Pneumonia
Publication History
received 05 July 2012
revised 13 November 2012
accepted 18 November 2012
Publication Date:
08 January 2013 (online)

Abstract
In this study, hemolysis, Western blot, and real-time RT-PCR assays were performed to evaluate silibininʼs activity against S. aureus α-toxin secretion. In addition, live/dead cell staining and lactate dehydrogenase activity assays were introduced to examine the influence of silibinin on α-toxin-induced cell injury in human alveolar epithelial cells. Furthermore, we tested the influence of silibinin on S. aureus pneumonia in a mouse model. We show that silibinin inhibits the expression of α-toxin in a dose-dependent manner and alleviates α-toxin-induced lung cell injury. The IC50 of silibinin that inhibits the hemolytic activity of S. aureus was 14.33 µg/mL for strain 8325–4. Moreover, this compound provides effective protection on the lung injury of staphylococcal pneumonia.
Key words
Staphylococcus aureus - α-toxin - silibinin - Silybum marianum - Asteraceae - A549 cells - pneumonia* Both authors contributed equally to this work.
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