Nesfatin‐1 alleviates hyperoxia‐induced bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) via the nuclear factor‐κB (NF‐κB) p65 signaling pathway

Abstract Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a chronic respiratory disease in newborns, which severely influences the health of infants and lacks effective clinical treatment strategies. The pathogenesis of BPD is correlated to enhanced inflammation and activated oxidative stress (OS). The application of antioxidants and anti‐inflammatory treatment could be hot spots for BPD treatment. Nesfatin‐1, a peptide with a suppressive property against inflammation, was tested herein for its potential therapeutic value in BPD. Neonatal SD rats were stimulated with hyperoxia, followed by being intraperitoneally administered with 20 μg/kg/day Nesfatin‐1 for 2 weeks. Decreased RAC value in lung tissues, increased wet weight/dry weight (W/D) pulmonary ratio and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) proteins, elevated cytokine release in BALF, increased malondialdehyde (MDA) content, and declined superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity were observed in BPD rats, all of which were sharply mitigated by Nesfatin‐1. Rat epithelial type II cells (AECIIs) were handled with hyperoxia, and then cultured with 1 and 10 nM Nesfatin‐1. Reduced cell viability, elevated lactate dehydrogenase production, elevated cytokine secretion, elevated MDA content, and decreased SOD activity were observed in hyperoxia‐handled AECIIs, all of which were markedly alleviated by Nesfatin‐1. Furthermore, activated nuclear factor‐κB (NF‐κB) signaling observed in both BPD rats and hyperoxia‐handled AECIIs were notably repressed by Nesfatin‐1. Collectively, Nesfatin‐1 alleviated hyperoxia‐triggered BPD by repressing inflammation and OS via the NF‐κB signaling pathway.