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Periodontitis, a chronic inflammatory periodontal disease that develops from gingivitis, is caused by periodontal pathogenic bacteria such as Porphyromonas gingivalis. Recent studies have focused on the antioxidant, anti-human immunodeficiency virus, anticarcinogenic, and anti-inflammatory properties of gomisins. However, the anti-inflammatory activities of gomisin plants through heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) signals remain poorly defined. We found that gomisins' antiinflammatory activity occurs via the induction of HO-1 expression. Gomisins G and J inhibit the production of the proinflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor-a, interleukin-1b, and interleukin-6 and also block nuclear factor-jB activation in Raw264.7 cells stimulated with P. gingivalis lipopolysaccharide. Furthermore, pro-inflammatory cytokine production is inhibited through the induction of HO-1 expression. HO-1 expression is induced by all gomisins, but their anti-inflammatory activity via HO-1 signaling is observed with gomisins G and J, and not A. We found that gomisins G and J extracted from Schisandria chinensis can inhibit the P. gingivalis lipopolysaccharide induced-inflammatory responses in Raw264.7 cells.KEY WORDS: gomisins A, G, and J heme oxygenase-1 nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 Porphyromonas gingivalis lipopolysaccharide pro-inflammatory cytokines

Cell migration plays a fundamental role in cancer cell invasion and metastasis as well as in many physiological responses. Here, we screened four different sources of garlic-water extract of normal and black garlic, as well as dried normal and black garlic-for the identification of anti-invasive and anti-metastatic activity on cancer cells. Inhibition of cancer cell migration was observed in the hexane extract of dried-garlic. Inhibitory activity was further purified to near homogeneity by thin layer chromatography and named inhibitor of cancer metastasis from garlic #27 (ICMG-27). ICMG-27 completely blocked insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1)-induced OVCAR-3 cell migration at 6 μg/ml. ICMG-27 completely blocked IGF-1-induced OVCAR-3 and NIH-3T3 cell migration whereas IGF-1-induced mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF) cell migration was not affected byICMG-27. ICMG-27 inhibited all the tested IGF-1-induced cancer cell migration such as OVCAR-3, SKOV-3, and MDA-MB-231 cells. Finally, ICMG-27 could inhibit IGF-1-, lysophosphatidic acid (LPA)-, sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P)-, leukotriene B4 (LTB4)-, and angiotensin II (AngII)-induced OVCAR-3 cell migration. These results indicate that ICMG-27 inhibits cancer cell migration by blocking essential steps in many agonists-induced cancer cell migrations. Unveiling an anti-invasive mechanism of ICMG-27 on cancer cells will provide a basis for cancer therapy.

Garlic has garnered attention as a useful material which contains many bioactive molecules for the prevention and/or treatment of various human ailments, including infectious diseases. In this study we tested several extracts of garlic on cellular activity in human neutrophils. Stimulation of human neutrophils with chloroform extract of garlic (GCE) elicited intracellular calcium ([Ca 2+ ]i) increases in a phospholipase C independent manner. GCE also stimulated superoxide anion production, which was completely blocked by a calcium (Ca 2+ ) chelator. We also observed that stimulation of human neutrophils with GCE caused production of the chemokine CXCL8 in a concentration-dependent manner. GCE also stimulated activity of two important mitogen activated protein kinases (MAPKs), extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and p38 MAPK. Moreover, GCE-induced CXCL8 production was inhibited by a p38 MAPK inhibitor (SB203580) but not by an ERK inhibitor (PD98059). Taken together, our results demonstrate that GCE contains bioactive natural compounds that stimulate [Ca 2+ ]i signaling, superoxide anion production, and CXCL8 production. Thus, GCE may be useful for the development of immune-modulating agents against infectious diseases.Additional key words: ERK, infectious disease, intracellular calcium, natural compound, p38 MAPK Hort. Environ. Biotechnol. 52(2):218-223. 2011.