Abstract

Inflammatory diseases, a significant worldwide health concern on the rise, detrimentally impact quality of life and burden healthcare systems. These conditions frequently involve aberrant inflammatory pathways like JAK-STAT and perturbed reactive oxygen species (ROS) metabolism. STAT3, key in JAK-STAT signaling, drives inflammation when aberrantly activated, yet targeting it with drugs is challenging due to limited actionable sites and safety concerns. Natural products like Carbon Dots (CDs) derived from charcoal medicine present a promising solution by integrating the bioactivity of traditional Chinese medicine with nano-properties and biosafety. Moutan Cortex, known for its rich content of bioactive compounds, exhibits various pharmacological effects including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antitumor activities. In this study, Moutan Cortex-derived CDs (MCDs) were synthesized through a one-step hydrothermal carbonization process. The MCDs demonstrated potent inhibition of p-STAT3 activity in inflammatory cells and ROS scavenging capabilities both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, MCDs showed efficacy in mitigating acute myocarditis, inflammatory bowel disease, and AML induced systemic inflammation. Extensive long-term mouse studies confirmed the safety profile of MCDs, thereby supporting their potential for clinical translation. Hence, MCDs represent a promising broad-spectrum anti-inflammatory agent by targeting ROS/p-STAT3 axis.