Mao Yulong, Wang Baikui, Xu Xin, Du Wei, Li Weifen, Wang Youming
Key Laboratory of Animal Molecular Nutrition of Education of Ministry, College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, 866 Yu Hang Tang Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China.
Mediators Inflamm. 2015;2015:372931. doi: 10.1155/2015/372931. Epub 2015 Nov 19.
The roots and rhizomes of Glycyrrhiza species (licorice) have been widely used as natural sweeteners and herbal medicines. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of glycyrrhizic acid (GA) from licorice on macrophage polarization. Both phenotypic and functional activities of murine bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) treated by GA were assessed. Our results showed that GA obviously increased the cell surface expression of CD80, CD86, and MHCII molecules. Meanwhile, GA upregulated the expression of CCR7 and the production of TNF-α, IL-12, IL-6, and NO (the markers of classically activated (M1) macrophages), whereas it downregulated the expression of MR, Ym1, and Arg1 (the markers of alternatively activated (M2) macrophage). The functional tests showed that GA dramatically enhanced the uptake of FITC-dextran and E. coli K88 by BMDMs and decreased the intracellular survival of E. coli K88 and S. typhimurium. Moreover, we demonstrated that JNK and NF-κB activation are required for GA-induced NO and M1-related cytokines production, while ERK1/2 pathway exhibits a regulatory effect via induction of IL-10. Together, these findings indicated that GA promoted polarization of M1 macrophages and enhanced its phagocytosis and bactericidal capacity. The results expanded our knowledge about the role of GA in macrophage polarization.
甘草属植物（甘草）的根和根茎已被广泛用作天然甜味剂和草药。本研究旨在探讨甘草中的甘草酸（GA）对巨噬细胞极化的影响。评估了GA处理的小鼠骨髓来源巨噬细胞（BMDM）的表型和功能活性。我们的结果表明，GA明显增加了CD80、CD86和MHCII分子的细胞表面表达。同时，GA上调了CCR7的表达以及TNF-α、IL-12、IL-6和NO（经典活化（M1）巨噬细胞的标志物）的产生，而它下调了MR、Ym1和Arg1（交替活化（M2）巨噬细胞的标志物）的表达。功能测试表明，GA显著增强了BMDM对FITC-葡聚糖和大肠杆菌K88的摄取，并降低了大肠杆菌K88和鼠伤寒沙门氏菌的细胞内存活率。此外，我们证明JNK和NF-κB激活是GA诱导NO和M1相关细胞因子产生所必需的，而ERK1/2途径通过诱导IL-10发挥调节作用。总之，这些发现表明GA促进了M1巨噬细胞的极化并增强了其吞噬和杀菌能力。这些结果扩展了我们对GA在巨噬细胞极化中作用的认识。
