Salvia plebeia R. Br. (Labiatae), distributed in many countries such as Korea, China, India, Iran, and Australia, is used as a folk remedy for a variety of inflammatory diseases including hepatitis, cough, diarrhea, gonorrhea, menorrhagia, tumors, and hemorrhoids. This study focused on determining the involvement of anti-inflammatory heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) in the inhibitory activity of an extract of Salvia plebeia R. Br. leaves (SPL) on nitric oxide (NO) production and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages. SPL extract at the highest concentration (500 μg/mL) significantly inhibited NO production by approximately 85% and suppressed iNOS protein expression by approximately 90% compared to LPS-stimulated cells. The SPL extract induced the expression of HO-1 in a dose-dependent manner, and blocking HO-1 activity abolished the inhibitory effects of the SPL extract on NO production. These results suggest that an SPL extract has potent anti-inflammatory activity through HO-1 induction in RAW264.7 macrophages.
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