Tanemoto Ryunosuke, Okuyama Tetsuya, Matsuo Hirotaka, Okumura Tadayoshi, Ikeya Yukinobu, Nishizawa Mikio
Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Life Sciences, Kusatsu, Shiga, Japan.
Department of Pharmacy, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ritsumeikan University, Kusatsu, Shiga, Japan.
Biochem Biophys Rep. 2015 Jun 15;2:153-159. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrep.2015.06.004. eCollection 2015 Jul.
Licorice (Glycyrrhizae radix) is the roots and stolons of Fischer or Linnaeus in the Japanese Pharmacopoeia. Glycyrrhizae radix has been widely used as a sweetener and a traditional medicine. A Glycyrrhizae radix extract contains many constituents and has antispasmodic, antitussive, anti-ulcer, and anti-inflammatory effects. However, reports comparing the anti-inflammatory effects of these constituents are very few. Here, we purified several constituents from the roots and stolons of and examined and compared their anti-inflammatory effects by monitoring the levels of the inflammatory mediator, nitric oxide (NO), in interleukin (IL)-1β-treated rat hepatocytes. From the extract, we purified the main constituent glycyrrhizin and the constituents that are characteristic of (chalcones and flavanones). These constituents suppressed NO production in IL-1β-treated rat hepatocytes, and isoliquiritigenin showed the greatest suppression activity. Isoliquiritigenin, isoliquiritin, and liquiritigenin significantly decreased both protein and mRNA for the inducible nitric oxide synthase. These constituents reduced the levels of mRNAs encoding tumor necrosis factor α and IL-6. In contrast, although glycyrrhizin is abundant, it showed a 100-fold lower potency in NO suppression. Therefore, both glycyrrhizin and the minor constituents (isoliquiritigenin, isoliquiritin, and liquiritigenin) may be responsible for the anti-inflammatory effects of . It is also implied that these constituents may have a therapeutic potential for inflammatory hepatic disorders.
甘草（甘草根）是日本药局方中 Fischer 或 Linnaeus 的根及匍匐茎。甘草根已被广泛用作甜味剂和传统药物。甘草根提取物含有多种成分，具有解痉、镇咳、抗溃疡和抗炎作用。然而，比较这些成分抗炎作用的报道非常少。在此，我们从甘草的根和匍匐茎中纯化了几种成分，并通过监测白细胞介素（IL）-1β 处理的大鼠肝细胞中炎症介质一氧化氮（NO）的水平，研究并比较了它们的抗炎作用。从甘草提取物中，我们纯化了主要成分甘草酸以及甘草特有的成分（查耳酮和黄烷酮）。这些成分抑制了 IL-1β 处理的大鼠肝细胞中 NO 的产生，异甘草素表现出最大的抑制活性。异甘草素、异甘草苷和甘草素显著降低了诱导型一氧化氮合酶的蛋白质和 mRNA 水平。这些成分降低了编码肿瘤坏死因子 α 和 IL-6 的 mRNA 水平。相比之下，尽管甘草酸含量丰富，但其在抑制 NO 方面的效力低 100 倍。因此，甘草酸和次要成分（异甘草素、异甘草苷和甘草素）可能都对甘草的抗炎作用有贡献。这也暗示这些成分可能对炎症性肝病具有治疗潜力。
