Department of Oriental Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Wonkwang Oriental Medicines Research Institute, Wonkwang University, Iksan, Jeonbuk, Republic of Korea.
Immunopharmacol Immunotoxicol. 2011 Sep;33(3):525-32. doi: 10.3109/08923973.2010.547500. Epub 2011 Jan 21.
Vanillic acid is a benzoic acid derivative that is used as a flavoring agent. It is an oxidized form of vanillin. At present, the mechanisms by which vanillic acid exerts its anti-inflammatory effects are incompletely understood. In this study, we attempted to determine the effects of vanillic acid on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammatory responses in mouse peritoneal macrophages. Our findings indicate that vanillic acid inhibits LPS-induced production of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interleukin (IL)-6. During the inflammatory process, the levels of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 and nitric oxide (NO) increased in mouse peritoneal macrophages, but vanillic acid suppressed both the enhanced levels of COX-2 and the production of prostaglandin E(2) and NO. Moreover, vanillic acid suppressed the activation of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) and caspase-1. These results provide novel insights into the pharmacological actions of vanillic acid and are indicative of the potential use of this molecule in the treatment of inflammatory diseases.
香草酸是一种苯甲酸衍生物，用作调味剂。它是香草醛的氧化形式。目前，香草酸发挥抗炎作用的机制尚不完全清楚。在这项研究中，我们试图确定香草酸对脂多糖（LPS）诱导的小鼠腹腔巨噬细胞炎症反应的影响。我们的研究结果表明，香草酸抑制 LPS 诱导的肿瘤坏死因子（TNF）-α和白细胞介素（IL）-6的产生。在炎症过程中，小鼠腹腔巨噬细胞中环氧化酶（COX）-2 和一氧化氮（NO）的水平升高，但香草酸抑制了 COX-2 的增强水平和前列腺素 E（2）和 NO 的产生。此外，香草酸抑制核因子-κB（NF-κB）和半胱氨酸蛋白酶-1 的激活。这些结果为香草酸的药理作用提供了新的见解，并表明该分子在治疗炎症性疾病方面具有潜在的用途。
