Sesquiterpene lactones from Artemisia austroyunnanensis suppresses ROS production and reduces cytokines, iNOS and COX-2 levels via NF-KB pathway in vitro

Abstract

The inhibitory effects of six sesquiterpene lactones (1–6) isolated from Artemisia austroyunnanensis Ling & Y. R. Ling were studied on the LPS-induced inflammatory mediator production in RAW264.7 cells. The results showed they can decrease the level of ROS in a concentration-dependent response. The compounds down-regulate the expression of iNOS and COX-2 and a series of classical inflammatory factors, including TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 and IL-10. These effects can be partially explained by the supression of the phosphorylation of NF-κB. Additionally, the relationship between their structures and inflammatory factors was analyzed and discussed.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

Keywords:

• Anti-inflammatory activity
• Sesquiterpene lactone
• Artemisia austroyunnanensis
• iNOS inhibition
• NF-κB regulation

Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31500287).

Dislcosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.