Pretreatment with rosavin attenuates PM2.5‐induced lung injury in rats through antiferroptosis via PI3K/Akt/Nrf2 signaling pathway

Abstract Inflammation and oxidative stress caused by fine particulate matter (PM2.5) increase the incidence and mortality rates of respiratory disorders. Rosavin is the main chemical component of Rhodiola plants, which exerts anti‐oxidative and antiinflammatory effects. In this research, the potential therapeutic effect of rosavin was investigated by the PM2.5‐induced lung injury rat model. Rats were instilled with PM2.5 (7.5 mg/kg) suspension intratracheally, while rosavin (50 mg/kg, 100 mg/kg) was delivered by intraperitoneal injection before the PM2.5 injection. It was observed that rosavin could prevent lung injury caused by PM2.5. PM2.5 showed obvious ferroptosis‐related ultrastructural alterations, which were significantly corrected by rosavin. The pretreatment with rosavin downregulated the levels of tissue iron, malondialdehyde, and 4‐hydroxynonenal, and increased the levels of glutathione. The expression of nuclear factor E2‐related factor 2 (Nrf2) was upregulated by rosavin, together with other ferroptosis‐related proteins. RSL3, a specific ferroptosis agonist, reversed the beneficial impact of rosavin. The network pharmacology approach predicted the activation of rosavin on the phosphatidylinositol 3‐kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt) signaling pathway. LY294002, a potent PI3K inhibitor, decreased the upregulation of Nrf2 induced by rosavin. In conclusion, rosavin prevented lung injury induced by PM2.5 stimulation and suppressed ferroptosis via upregulating PI3K/Akt/Nrf2 signaling pathway.