The global prevalence of lung diseases caused by cigarette smoke is increasingly evident. Antioxidant nanozyme has emerged as a promising strategy to mitigate harmful effects by eliminating toxic free radicals, such as reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS). Herein, inspired by Chinese Traditional Medicines with anti-inflammatory properties, a biocompatible carbon dots nanozyme (CDs/Gj.E) were prepared using Gardenia jasminoides Ellis (Gj.E) as precursors by innovatively improving ROS and RNS scavenging activity and thermal stability. The cigarette smoke model serves as a relevant oxidative stress environment to validate scavenging efficacy. CDs/Gj.E acted as a new additive incorporated with cigarette filters to effectively remove over 60% ROS and 90% RNS from cigarette smoke and reduce the toxicity of smoke to cells. More importantly, CDs/Gj.E not only exhibited high biocompatibility, but also demonstrated significant inflammation inhibition, and lung tissues protection against smoking-induced lung injury in mice model. Therefore, this work represented the powerful antioxidant capacity of CDs/Gj.E constructed by Chinese Traditional Medicines. • Chinese Traditional Medicines-derived carbon dots nanozymes (CDs/Gj.E) with good biocompatibility. • CDs/Gj.E showed powerful and enhanced ROS/RNS scavenging activity. • CDs/Gj.E removed more than 60% of ROS and 90% of RNS produced by cigarette smoke. • CDs/Gj.E demonstrated smoke-induced pulmonary inflammation suppression.
Lv et al. (Fri,) studied this question.