Abstract:Objective:To investigate the effect of ursolic acid on inflammatory status in allergic rhinitis mice. Methods:A total of 40 BALB/c mice were enrolled and randomly divided into model group,ursolic acid group and control group. The ursolic acid group was further divided into two sub-groups (low-dose and high- dose of ursolic acid groups) according to the different concentration of ursolic acid (150 mg/mL and 300 mg/mL). Model group:the 100 μg ovalbumin combined with 2 mg Al(OH)3 was dissolved in 0.1 mL of 0.9% sodium chloride solution and the mice were injected intraperitoneally on day 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 14. On day 15 to 25,500 μg ovalbumin was dissolved in 10 μL 0.9% sodium chloride solution and treated with nasal drops (10 μL/nostril) every day. Ursolic acid group: ursolic acid was dissolved in 0.9% sodium chloride solution, and the final concentration of ursolic acid was allocated to 150 mg/mL and 300 mg/mL, respectively. Ursolic acid solution was injected intraperitoneally 0.3 mL based on the model group every day. Control group: all mice were treated with 0.9% sodium chloride solution according to model group. The allergic symptoms of mice such as sneezing,runny nose and scratching were observed and scored. The protein expression levels of phosphorylated extracellular signal- regulate kinase (P- ERK), phosphorylated mitogen activated protein kinase (P-MAPK),interleukin-17 (IL-17),interleukin-33 (IL-33) in nasal mucosa and serum. IL- 17, IL- 33 and tumor necrosis factor- α (TNF- α) levels in each group of mice were detected. Results:The cumulative symptom scores of mice in the model group being (8.26± 0.35),which were significantly higher than those being (6.11±0.44) in the 150 mg/mL ursolic acid group and (4.25±1.02) in the 300 mg/mL ursolic acid group,and the differences were statistically significant (P< 0.05);the symptom scores of mice in the 150 mg/mL ursolic acid group were significantly higher than those in the 300 mg/mL ursolic acid group,and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). The protein expression levels of P-ERK,P-MAPK,IL-17 and IL-33 in the nasal mucosa of the four groups of mice were significantly different (P<0.05). Compared with the model group, the protein expression levels of P-ERK,P-MAPK,IL-17 and IL-33 were significantly decreased in the ursolic acid group (P<0.05). The protein expression levels of P-ERK,P-MAPK,IL-17 and IL-33 in the 300 mg/mL ursolic acid group were significantly lower than those in the 150 mg/mL ursolic acid group (P<0.05). Compared with the model group,the levels of serum inflammatory factors IL-17,IL-33 and TNF-α were significantly decreased in the 150 mg/mL ursolic acid group;however,compared with the 300 mg/mL ursolic acid group,the levels of serum inflammatory factors IL- 17, IL- 33 and TNF- α were significantly increased in the 150 mg/mL ursolic acid group, and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusions: Ursolic acid can attenuate the inflammatory status of allergic rhinitis mice, which maybe related to the decrease of P-ERK protein expression.