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Dioscorealide B (DB), a naphthofuranoxepin has been purified from an ethanolic extract of the rhizome of Dioscorea membranacea Pierre ex Prain & Burkill which has been used to treat inflammation and cancer in Thai Traditional Medicine. Previously, DB has been reported to have anti-inflammatory activities through reducing nitric oxide (NO) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) production in lipopolysaccharides (LPS)-induced RAW 264.7 macrophage cells. In this study, the mechanisms of DB on LPS-induced NO production and cytokine expression through the activation of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) and ERK1/2 are demonstrated in RAW 264.7 cells. Through measurement with Griess's reagent, DB reduced NO level with an IC(50) value of 2.85 +/- 0.62 microM that was due to the significant suppression of LPS-induced iNOS mRNA expression as well as IL-1beta, IL-6, and IL-10 mRNA at a concentration of 6 microM. At the signal transduction level, DB significantly inhibited NF-kappaB binding activity, as determined using pNFkappaB-Luciferase reporter system, which action resulted from the prevention of IkappaBalpha degradation. In addition, DB in the range of 1.5-6 microM significantly suppressed the activation of the ERK1/2 protein. In conclusion, the molecular mechanisms of DB on the inhibition of NO production and mRNA expression of iNOS, IL-1beta, IL-6, and IL-10 were due to the inhibition of the upstream kinases activation, which further alleviated the NF-kappaB and MAPK/ERK signaling pathway in LPS-induced RAW264.7 macrophage cells.

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The leaves of Mitragyna speciosa Korth (Rubiaceae) have been used in folk medicine for its unique medicinal properties. This study examined the water, methanolic and crude alkaloidal extracts from M. speciosa leaves and its major constituent mitragynine for the enhancement of glucose transport. Cellular uptake of radioactive 2-deoxyglucose was determined in rat L8 myotubes. Involving signalling pathway was determined with the specific inhibitors. Cell cytotoxicity was monitored by lactate dehydrogenase assay. Protein levels of glucose transporters (GLUTs) were measured by Western blotting. The results show that test samples significantly increased the rate of glucose uptake. The uptake was associated with increase in GLUT1 protein content. Co-incubation with insulin had no additional effect, but the cellular uptake was decreased by wortmannin and SB 203580, specific inhibitors of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK), respectively. It is concluded that the increased glucose transport activity of M. speciosa is associated with increases in activities of the key enzymes dependent to the insulin-stimulated glucose transport for its acute action, and increases in the GLUT1 content for its long-term effect. This study demonstrated the effect of M. speciosa in stimulating glucose transport in muscle cells, implicating the folkloric use of M. speciosa leaves for treating diabetes.

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