Lim Beong Ou, Chung Hae Gon, Lee Won-Ha, Lee Ho Won, Suk Kyoungho
Department of Life Science, College of Biomedical & Health Science, Konkuk University, Chungju, Korea.
Phytother Res. 2008 Feb;22(2):279-82. doi: 10.1002/ptr.2304.
Artemisia asiatica Nakai has been used for the treatment of infections and inflammatory disorders in traditional Oriental medicine. Previously, an ethanol extract of A. asiatica has been shown to exert antioxidative and antiinflammatory activities and to exhibit protective effects against experimentally induced damage in the gastrointestinal system, liver and pancreas. This study examined whether the ethanol extract of A. asiatica affects inflammatory activation of microglia in the central nervous system, and whether the antiinflammatory activity of A. asiatica is related to neuroprotective effects. The extract of A. asiatica inhibited inflammatory activation of mouse microglial cells as determined by the production of nitric oxide and the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase and inflammatory cytokine. The extract also protected nerve growth factor-differentiated PC12 cells against microglial cytotoxicity, indicating that the ethanol extract of A. asiatica may be neuroprotective by inhibiting microglial neurotoxicity.
亚洲龙蒿在传统东方医学中一直被用于治疗感染和炎症性疾病。此前，亚洲龙蒿的乙醇提取物已被证明具有抗氧化和抗炎活性，并对实验诱导的胃肠道系统、肝脏和胰腺损伤具有保护作用。本研究探讨了亚洲龙蒿的乙醇提取物是否会影响中枢神经系统中小胶质细胞的炎症激活，以及亚洲龙蒿的抗炎活性是否与神经保护作用相关。通过一氧化氮的产生、诱导型一氧化氮合酶的表达和炎性细胞因子的表达测定，亚洲龙蒿提取物抑制了小鼠小胶质细胞的炎症激活。该提取物还保护神经生长因子分化的PC12细胞免受小胶质细胞的细胞毒性，表明亚洲龙蒿的乙醇提取物可能通过抑制小胶质细胞神经毒性而具有神经保护作用。
