Guangdong Provincial Key laboratory of Food Quality and Safety, College of Food Science, South China Agricultural University, Wushan Road, Guangzhou 510642, China.
BMC Complement Altern Med. 2012 Mar 1;12:12. doi: 10.1186/1472-6882-12-12.
Litchi chinensis is regarded as one of the 'heating' fruits in China, which causes serious inflammation symptoms to people.
In the current study, the effects of isolates of litchi on prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) and nitric oxide (NO) production in J774 murine macrophage cells were investigated.
The AcOEt extract (EAE) of litchi was found effective on stimulating PGE(2) production, and three compounds, benzyl alcohol, hydrobenzoin and 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furfurolaldehyde (5-HMF), were isolated and identified from the EAE. Benzyl alcohol caused markedly increase in PGE(2) and NO production, compared with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) as positive control, and in a dose-dependent manner. Hydrobenzoin and 5-HMF were found in litchi for the first time, and both of them stimulated PGE(2) and NO production moderately in a dose-dependent manner. Besides, regulation of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) mRNA expression and NF-κB (p50) activation might be involved in mechanism of the stimulative process.
The study showed, some short molecular compounds in litchi play inflammatory effects on human.
荔枝在中国被视为“热气”水果之一,会导致人体严重炎症症状。
本研究旨在探讨荔枝分离物对 J774 鼠巨噬细胞细胞中前列腺素 E2(PGE2)和一氧化氮(NO)产生的影响。
荔枝的乙酸乙酯提取物(EAE)被发现能有效刺激 PGE2 的产生,并且从 EAE 中分离出并鉴定出三种化合物:苯甲醇、氢化苯甲醛和 5-羟甲基-2-糠醛(5-HMF)。与阳性对照脂多糖(LPS)相比,苯甲醇导致 PGE2 和 NO 产生明显增加,且呈剂量依赖性。氢化苯甲醛和 5-HMF 是荔枝中的首次发现,它们均以剂量依赖性方式适度刺激 PGE2 和 NO 的产生。此外,环氧合酶-2(COX-2)和诱导型一氧化氮合酶(iNOS)mRNA 表达和 NF-κB(p50)的调节可能参与了刺激过程的机制。
该研究表明,荔枝中的一些短分子化合物对人体具有炎症作用。