With the aim of obtaining potential IL-6 inhibitor for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, four 3-aryloxylindolizine derivatives were synthesized from the 2-bromopyridine and aryl propargyl ether through the Sonogashira coupling/5-endo-trigcycloisomerization domino strategy. These compounds were characterized by NMR, IR, EI-MS and elemental analysis. Their biological activities were evaluated by the bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation of mouse cells on the RAW264.7 inflammation model. All the compounds revealed good anti-inflammatory activities with the inhibitions of 71~82% against IL-6 at 100 μM. The bioactive 3-aryloxylindolizines might be used as potential anti-inflammatory drugs.

Steroidal saponin: (1β,3β,5β,25S)-spirostan-1,3-diol1-[α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→2)-β-D-xylopyranoside] (RCE-4) is the most abundant and bioactive members in Reineckia carnea, has been reported to possess antiinflammatory activity, but the underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. The present aim was to study expression of inflammatory cytokines, on the basis of this investigation, the possible mechanism of RCE-4 was elucidated. In the present study, we found that the concentrations of TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 released from LPS-stimulated RAW264.7cells significantly increased compared to control (P<0.01, respectively). After pretreatment with RCE-4, the TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 levels significantly decreased compared with the LPS group (P<0.05, P<0.01, respectively). Further studies indicated that RCE-4 significantly suppressed Akt phosphorylation and NF-қB activation, and with the dose of RCE-4 increasing; their improvement became more and more strong. Our results showed that RCE-4 inhibited LPS-stimiulated TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 productions through the blockage of PI3K/Akt-mediated NF-κB activation. Our findings might provide a molecular basis for the ability of RCE-4 serving as a promising candidate for treating various inflammatory diseases.

The synthesis and interleukin-6 (IL-6) inhibitory activities for a series of 3-alkyloxylindolizine derivatives were described. The target products were characterized by NMR, IR, ESI-MS and elemental analysis, and two compounds revealed better IL-6 inhibitory effects on LPS-induced IL-6 expression in mouse macrophages with the corresponding inhibition ratio of 66% and 74% at 100 μM. The bioactive compounds might be a good generation for further optimization as potential anti-inflammatory agents.

Saponins from Rhizoma Panacis Majoris (SRPM), the bioactive component inRhizoma Panacis Majoris, were reported to possess protective effects on myocardial injury, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. This study was performed to investigate the protective effects and possible mechanism of SRPM on myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in vivo. Cardioprotective effects of SPRM in I/R rats was evaluated by hemodynamic, infarct size, biochemical values, histopathological observations, antioxidative relative gene expressions; And the antioxidant activity of SPRM was studied using DPPH scavenging and β-carotene/linoleic acid tests. In the study, we found that SRPM possessed significant free radical-scavenging activity and considerable antioxidant activity, and significantly improved cardiac function, serum biochemical index and antioxidation level, decreased infarct size, reversed the down-regulated mRNA expressions of the SOD1, SOD2, SOD3 in I/R rats. The studies demonstrated that oxidative stress caused the overgeneration and accumulation of ROS, which was central of myocardial I/R injury. SPRM exerted beneficially cardioprotective effects on myocardial I/R injury, mainly scavenging oxidative stress-triggered overgeneration and accumulation of ROS, alleviating myocardial I/R injury and apoptotic cell death.