4.7 Article

Anti-inflammatory activity of Anchusa italica Retz. in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells mediated by the Nrf2/HO-1, MAPK and NF-?B signaling pathways

Journal

JOURNAL OF ETHNOPHARMACOLOGY
Volume 286, Issue -, Pages -

Publisher

ELSEVIER IRELAND LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2021.114899

Keywords

Boraginaceae; Anchusa italica Retz.; Anti-inflammatory; NF-kappa B pathway ; MAPK pathway; NLRP3 inflammasome

Funding

  1. West Light Foundation of The Chinese Academy of Sciences [2018-YDYLTD-001]
  2. Tianshan Innovative team plan of Science & Technology Department of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous region, China [2020D14009]

Ask authors/readers for more resources

The study aimed to clarify the anti-inflammatory activity of Anchusa italica, reveal its molecular mechanisms, and discover the active anti-inflammatory ingredients.
Ethnopharmacological relevance: Anchusa italica Retz. (Boraginaceae) is an important medicinal plant for the treatment of meningitis and pneumonia in traditional Uygur medicines.& nbsp;Aim of the study: To clarify the anti-inflammatory activity of A. italica, to reveal its molecular mechanisms, and to discover the anti-inflammatory active ingredients.& nbsp;Materials and methods: Dried and crushed aerial parts of A. italica were extracted with 75% ethanol to yield crude extract (AICE) and AICE was fractionated to obtain petroleum ether extract (AIPE), dichloromethane extract (AIDE), ethyl acetate extract (AIEE), n-butanol extract (AIBE) and residues (AIW). By measuring the effects of AIPE, AIDE, AIEE, AIBE and AIW on cell viability and nitric oxide (NO) in Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulated RAW264.7 cell lines, AIDE with the lowest cytotoxicity and NO contents was finally selected for further chemical and anti-inflammatory investigations. LC-MS/MS experiment was applied to analyze the chemical composition of AIDE. MTT and Griess methods were used to detect the cell viability and to quantify the nitrite levels in culture supernatants, respectively. Prostaglandin E-2 (PGE(2)), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) production was examined by ELISA assays. Real-time quantitative PCR was used to detect the expression of hemeoxygenase-1 (HO-1), Nrf2-mediated quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO-1), glutathione S-transferase A 1 (GSTA1) and glutathione S-transferase M 1 (GSTM1) mRNA. Western blot analysis was employed to examine the protein expression and enzymatic activities.& nbsp;Results: In preliminary anti-inflammatory screening, AIDE showed the lowest cytotoxicity and the most significant inhibitory effect on the production of NO (the inhibitory is 89%) induced by LPS among the tested five extracts. Thirty-three compounds including twenty-five triterpenoids were identified by LC-MS/MS analysis. AIDE could inhibit LPS-induced the over-expression of NO, IL-6, PGE(2), IL-1 beta and TNF-alpha and down-regulate the levels of extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase (ERK), c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), P38-MAPK (P38) and nuclear transcription factors kappa B-P65 (P65) phosphorylation. It promoted the mRNA expression level of HO-1, NQO-1, GSTA1 and GSTM1 and the protein expression level of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) and HO-1. After the treatment of AIDE, P65 nuclear translocation was inhibited and Nrf2 nuclear translocation was increased. In addition, the protein expression of pyrolytic relevant protein nod-like receptor family pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) and IL-1 beta were decreased after the AIDE treatment.& nbsp;Conclusions: Anchusa italica Retz. exerted its anti-inflammatory activity by inhibiting the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), nuclear transcription factors kappa B (NF-kappa B) and pyrolytic relevant proteins, down-regulating inflammatory factor levels, and activating the Nrf2/HO-1 pathway. Triterpenoids might be its major active anti-inflammatory ingredients.

Authors

I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.

Reviews

Primary Rating

4.7
Not enough ratings

Secondary Ratings

Novelty
-
Significance
-
Scientific rigor
-
Rate this paper

Recommended

No Data Available
No Data Available