Anti-inflammatory Activity of Salvianolic Acid B in Microglia Contributes to its Neuroprotective Effect

Abstract

This study examined whether Salvianolic acid B (Sal B), a major active component of Chinese herb Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae, may exert an anti-inflammatory effect in microglia and may be neuroprotective by regulating microglial activation. Our results showed that Sal B significantly reduced the production of nitric oxide (NO), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) treatment in rat primary microglia in a dose-dependent manner. Sal B had no effects on ATP-dependent IL-1beta release and interferon (IFN)-gamma-induced NO production. Sal B also suppressed LPS-induced inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), TNF-alpha, and IL-1beta mRNA expression, which was accompanied by inhibiting transcription factor NF-kappaB activation. Sal B could protect neurons through inhibition of microglial activation in a microglia-neuron coculture system. In conclusion, these data demonstrate that anti-inflammatory activity of Sal B in microglia contributes to its neuroprotective effect and suggest that it may be useful for preventing microglia-mediated neuroinflammation.

Salvianolic acid B ameliorates depressive-like behaviors in chronic mild stress-treated mice: involvement of the neuroinflammatory pathway

“…SalB has been shown to provide anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and neuroprotective activity by regulating microglial activation [17,35] . According to recent studies, besides functioning as a monoaminergic neurotransmitter, neuroinflammation may also have a key role in the pathogenesis of MDD [13,36] .…”

Salvianolic acid B accelerated ABCA1-dependent cholesterol efflux by targeting PPAR-γ and LXRα

“…There is an accumulation of evidence that Sal B may exert cardiovascular protecting effects through inhibition of oxidative stress [17] and lipid peroxidation [18], reducing the generation of ROS, increasing the release of NO, inhibition of platelet aggregation and adhesion [19], anti-inflammatory activity [20] and suppression of apoptosis induced by other factors. Thus, although there is still no direct evidence of Sal B involved in modulating lipid metabolism and improving dyslipidemia, we want to know whether Sal B could improve the cholesterol transport.…”

Antidepressant-like effects of Salvianolic acid B in the mouse forced swim and tail suspension tests

“…SalB, the main bioactive component of S. miltiorrhiza, was reported to protect against the ischemia-reperfusion induced injury in rat brain in vivo (Chen et al, 2000. It has also been demonstrated to inhibit lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammatory molecule expression (Lin et al, 2007;Wang et al, 2010). Inhibition of neuroinflammation may represent a novel mechanism of action of antidepressant treatment (Catena-Dell'Osso et al, 2011).…”

“…Salvianolic acid B (SalB, the chemical structure as shown in Fig. 1), the most abundant and bioactive compounds extracted from Labiatae, Laminaceae (Salvia miltiorrhiza) (Zhou et al, 2005), has been demonstrated to have anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective activities in vivo and in vitro (Wang et al, 2010). The phenolic hydroxyl group in the structure of SalB may be related to anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities (Ho and Hong, 2011).…”