Vincamine, an active constituent of Vinca rosea ameliorates experimentally induced acute lung injury in Swiss albino mice through modulation of Nrf-2/NF-κB signaling cascade

•Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a leading pulmonary inflammatory disorder.•Vincamine is a novel phytochemical with promising anti-inflammatory properties.•Vincamine exerted potent suppression of inflammation by reducing the expression of proinflammatory cytokines.•Vincamine reduced the release of nitrite and TNF-α from lipopolysaccharide stimulated Raw 264.7 macrophages.•Vincamine reduced the expression of NF-κB, TNF-α and COX-2 while increased the expression of Nrf-2.•These findings are of potential relevance for COVID-19 related lung injury management. Acute lung injury (ALI) or acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is one of the leading pulmonary inflammatory disorders causing significant morbidity and mortality. Vincamine is a novel phytochemical with promising anti-inflammatory properties. In the current work, the protective effect of vincamine was studied in vitro (Raw 264.7 macrophages) and in vivo against lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced ALI in Swiss albino mice. Vincamine significantly reduced nitrite and TNF-α release from the LPS stimulated macrophages and increased the levels of IL-10, indicating potent anti-inflammatory effects. It was observed that vincamine at the dose of 40 mg/kg, significantly reduced LPS induced inflammatory cell count in blood and in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid. Further, vincamine exerted potent suppression of inflammation by reducing the expression of proinflammatory cytokines, while significantly increased (p