Department of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Republic of Korea.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2009 Nov 12;126(2):320-31. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2009.08.027. Epub 2009 Aug 21.
A herbal preparation using Scutellaria baicalensis (S. baicalensis) Georgi (Huang Qin, SB) was formulated to effectively protect cancer patients from inflammatory reactions. Although SB, is one of the most widely used herbs in oriental medicine for anti-inflammation, anti-cancer, anti-viral, anti-bacterial and tonifying the immune response, the underlying mechanism(s) by which these effects are induced remains unclear.
Here, we report that SB displays anti-inflammatory effects in a zymosan-induced mouse air-pouch model by reducing the expression of nitric oxide (NO), inducible NOS (iNOS), Cyclooxygenase2 (COX-2), Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), Nuclear Factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) and IkappaBalpha as well as inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-1beta, IL-2, IL-6, IL-12 and TNF-alpha. In a similar manner, SB also reduced the production of nitric oxide, PGE2, IL-1beta, IL-2, IL-6, IL-12 and TNF-alpha, by decreasing the expression of iNOS, COX-2, IkappaB kinase alphabeta (IKKalphabeta) phosphorylation, IkappaBalpha and IkappaBalpha phosphorylation in LPS-treated Raw 264.7 cells. Additionally, SB interfered with the nuclear translocation of NF-kappaB p65 and p50, resulting in NF-kappaB-dependent transcriptional repression. We further demonstrate that SB attenuated the activity of c-Raf-1/MEK1/2, Erk1/2, p38 and JNK phosphorylation in LPS-treated Raw 264.7 cells.
Taken together, these results confirm the strong anti-inflammatory properties of SB by inhibition of iNOS, COX-2, PGE2, IL-1beta, IL-2, IL-6, IL-12 and TNF-alpha expression. This was achieved through the down-regulation of IKKalphabeta, IkappaBalpha, NF-kappaB activation via suppression of c-Raf-1/MEK1/2 (Mitogen-activated protein kinase/ERK kinase) and MAP kinase phosphorylation in the zymosan-induced mice air-pouch and Raw 264.7 cells. These results support the use of SB herbs for its potent anti-inflammatory activity.
一种使用黄芩（SB）的草药制剂被制定出来，以有效地保护癌症患者免受炎症反应。虽然 SB 是东方医学中最广泛用于抗炎、抗癌、抗病毒、抗菌和增强免疫反应的草药之一，但诱导这些作用的潜在机制尚不清楚。
在这里，我们报告说，SB 通过减少一氧化氮（NO）、诱导型一氧化氮合酶（iNOS）、环氧化酶 2（COX-2）、前列腺素 E2（PGE2）、核因子-κB（NF-κB）和 IκBα以及炎症细胞因子如白细胞介素-1β（IL-1β）、白细胞介素-2（IL-2）、白细胞介素-6（IL-6）、白细胞介素-12（IL-12）和肿瘤坏死因子-α（TNF-α）的表达，在酵母聚糖诱导的小鼠气囊模型中显示出抗炎作用。类似地，SB 还通过降低 LPS 处理的 Raw 264.7 细胞中 iNOS、COX-2、IkappaB 激酶 alphabeta（IKKalphabeta）磷酸化、IkappaBalpha 和 IkappaBalpha 磷酸化的表达，减少了一氧化氮、PGE2、IL-1β、IL-2、IL-6、IL-12 和 TNF-α的产生。此外，SB 干扰 NF-κB p65 和 p50 的核转位，导致 NF-κB 依赖性转录抑制。我们进一步证明，SB 减弱了 LPS 处理的 Raw 264.7 细胞中 c-Raf-1/MEK1/2、Erk1/2、p38 和 JNK 磷酸化的活性。
综上所述，这些结果通过抑制 iNOS、COX-2、PGE2、IL-1β、IL-2、IL-6、IL-12 和 TNF-α的表达，证实了 SB 的强大抗炎特性。这是通过抑制 c-Raf-1/MEK1/2（丝裂原激活蛋白激酶/细胞外信号调节激酶激酶）和 MAP 激酶磷酸化来实现的，MAP 激酶磷酸化在酵母聚糖诱导的小鼠气囊和 Raw 264.7 细胞中。这些结果支持使用 SB 草药作为其有效的抗炎活性。
