Hsueh-Ling Cheng, Nurkholis, Shi-Yie Cheng, Shen-Da Huang, Yan-Ting Lu, Xiao-Wen Wang, Yu-Liang Liu, Chang-Hung Chou
Fatsia polycarpa, a plant endemic to Taiwan, is an herbal medicine known for treating several inflammation-related diseases, but its biological function needs scientific support. Thus, the anti-inflammatory effects and mechanisms of the methanolic crude extract (MCE) of F. polycarpa and its feature constituents, that is, brassicasterol (a phytosterol), triterpenoids 3-hydroxyolean-11,13(18) -dien-28-oic acid (HODA), 3-hydroxyolean-11-en-28,13β-olide (HOEO), fatsicarpain D, and fatsicarpain F, were investigated. MCE and HOEO, but not brassicasterol, dose-dependently inhibited lipopolysaccharide- (LPS-)induced expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase and cyclooxygenase-2 in RAW 264.7 macrophage line, whereas HODA, fatsicarpain D and fatsicarpain F were toxic to RAW cells. Additionally, MCE and HOEO suppressed LPS-induced production of nitric oxide, prostaglandin E2, and interleukin-1β and interfered with LPS-promoted activation of the inhibitor kappa B kinase (IKK)/nuclear factor-B (NF-B) pathway, and that of the mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK), c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), and p38. In animal tests, MCE and HOEO effectively ameliorated 12-O-tetradecanoylphorobol-13 acetate- (TPA-)induced ear edema of mice. Thus, MCE of F. polycarpa exhibited an obvious anti-inflammatory activity in vivo and in vitro that likely involved the inhibition of the IKK/NF-B pathway and the MAPKs, which may be attributed by triterpenoids such as HOEO. © 2013 Hsueh-Ling Cheng et al.
Department of Biological Science and Technology, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Neipu, Pingtung 91201, No. 1, Shuefu Road, Taiwan; Department of Agricultural Product Technology, Brawijaya University, Jalan-Veteran-Malang-65145, Indonesia; Department of Life Sciences, National University of Kaohsiung, Nan-Tzu District, Kaohsiung 81148, No. 700, Kaohsiung University Road, Taiwan; Research Center for Biodiversity, Graduate Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, China Medical University, Taichung 40402, 91 Hsueh-Shih Road, Taiwan
