Aloperine alleviates LPS-induced inflammation in bovine intestinal epithelial cells through autophagy and TLR4/p38 MAPK/NF-κB pathway.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Calf diarrhea is a major cause of mortality and morbidity, leading to substantial economic losses in the cattle industry. Aloperine (Alo) exhibits an anti-inflammation effect and alleviates dextran sulfate sodium salt (DSS)-induced colitis; however, it remains unclear whether Alo alleviates calf diarrhea-induced intestinal inflammation. RESULTS: In this study, network pharmacology was used to discover the possible mechanism of Alo on the anti-inflammatory effect; Then, an inflammation model was induced by LPS in BIECs-21 to evaluate the protective effect of Alo on LPS-induced inflammation. Results found that a total of 68 overlapping targets of Alo and inflammation were obtained, among which ALB, AKT1, IL-6, and EGFR exhibited good affinity for Alo. In vitro experiments, Alo inhibited LPS-induced pro-inflammatory cytokine levels, increased the expression of ZO-1 and Claudin 1, and reduced the expression of proteins related to autophagy and TLR4/p38 MAPK/NF-κB pathway; the autophagy inhibitor CQ and Baf A1 results further demonstrated that Alo inhibited late stages of autophagy maturation and impaired intestinal epithelial barrier function. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicated that Alo has protective effects on LPS-induced inflammation by decreasing the levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines through the TLR4/p38 MAPK/NF-κB pathway, inhibiting late stages of autophagy maturation, and impairing intestinal epithelial barrier function. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12917-026-05337-7.