Anti-inflammatory effects of glycyrol isolated from Glycyrrhiza uralensis (Leguminosae) in LPS-induced RAW264.7 macrophages

E. M. Shin; H. Y. Zhou; L. Y. Guo; S. S. Kang; J. A. Kim; S. H. Lee; I. Merfort; H. S. Kim; S. Kim; Y. S. Kim

doi:10.1055/s-0028-1084100

Planta Medica, Inhaltsverzeichnis

Anti-inflammatory effects of glycyrol isolated from Glycyrrhiza uralensis (Leguminosae) in LPS-induced RAW264.7 macrophages

EM Shin ¹, HY Zhou ¹^,², LY Guo ¹, SS Kang ¹, JA Kim ³, SH Lee ³, I Merfort ⁴, HS Kim ⁵, S Kim ¹, YS Kim ¹

¹Natural Products Research Institute, College of Pharmacy, Seoul National University, 151–742, South Korea
²Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110016, China
³College of Pharmacy, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan 712–749, South Korea
⁴Department of Pharmaceutical Biology and Biotechnology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg 79104, Germany
⁵College of Pharmacy, Wonkwang University, Iksan 570–749, South Korea

Abstract

The anti-inflammatory effects of glycyrol, a benzofuran coumarin, isolated from Glycyrrhizae Radix were studied. Glycyrol of 5, 25 and 50µM dose-dependently inhibited nitric oxide (NO) production by down-regulating inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and alleviated cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression, in both mRNA and protein expression levels in LPS-induced RAW264.7 macrophages. Furthermore, glycyrol dose-dependently decreased mRNA of the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1β and IL-6. LPS-induced NF-κB activation was prevented in RAW264.7 macrophages by inihibiting phosphorylation and consequent degradation IκBα. In addition, administration of glycyrol (30 and 100mg/kg, i.p) reduced the thickness of the carrageenan-induced mouse-paw edema swelling. Taken together, our results indicate that glycyrol is an important anti-inflammatory constituent of Glycyrrhizae Radix, and its anti-inflammatory effect is attributed to inhibit phosphorylation and consequent degradation of IκBα.

Acknowledgement: This work was supported by a grant from the Korea Food and Drug administration for Studies on the Identification of the Efficacy of Biologically Active Components from Oriental Herbal Medicines (2007).