Cecropin A Alleviates LPS-Induced Oxidative Stress and Apoptosis of Bovine Endometrial Epithelial Cells

Dairy cows receiving a prolonged high-concentrate diet express an elevated concentration of lipopolysaccharides (LPSs) in the peripheral blood circulation, accompanied by a series of systemic inflammatory responses; however, the specific impacts of inflammation are yet to be determined. Cecropin-like antimicrobial peptides have become a research hotspot regarding antimicrobial peptides because of their excellent anti-inflammatory activities, and cecropin A is a major member of the cecropin family. To elucidate the mechanism of cecropin A as anti-inflammatory under the condition of sub-acute ruminal acidosis (SARA) in dairy cows, we induced inflammation in bEECs with LPS (10 µg/mL) and then added cecropin A (25 µM). Afterwards, we detected three categories of indexes including oxidative stress indices, inflammation-related genes, and apoptosis-related genes in bovine endometrial epithelial cells (bEECs). The results indicated that cecropin A has the ability to reduce inflammatory factors TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-8 and inhibit the MAPK pathway to alleviate inflammation. In addition, cecropin A is able to reduce reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels and alleviates LPS-induced oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction by downregulating NADPH Oxidase (NOX), and upregulating catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), and superoxide dismutase (SOD). Furthermore, cecropin A demonstrates the ability to inhibit apoptosis by suppressing the mitochondrial-dependent apoptotic pathway, specifically Fas/FasL-caspase-8/-3. The observed increase in the Bcl-2/Bax ratio, a known apoptosis regulator, further supports this finding. In conclusion, our study presents novel solutions for addressing inflammatory responses associated with SARA.