Inhibitory Effect of Astragalus Polysaccharides on Lipopolysaccharide-Induced TNF-a and IL-1β Production in THP-1 Cells

Abstract

Astragalus polysaccharides (APS), one of main bioactive components in Astragalus membranaceus Bunge, has been reported to possess anti-inflammatory activities, but the molecular mechanisms behind this activity are largely unknown. This study aimed to investigate expression of inflammatory cytokines and the MAPK/NF-κB pathway in human THP-1 macrophages induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The results showed that the concentrations of TNF- and IL-1β released from LPS stimulated THP-1 cells increased significantly compared to control (p < 0.01). After treatment with APS, the TNF- and IL-1β levels were significantly lower than those in the LPS group (p < 0.05). The mRNA expression of TNF- and IL-1β were also inhibited. Mechanistic studies indicated that APS strongly suppressed NF-κB activation and down-regulated the phosphorylation of ERK and JNK, which are important signaling pathways involved in the production of TNF- and IL-1β, demonstrating that APS could suppress the production of TNF- and IL-1β by LPS stimulated macrophages by inhibiting NF-κB activation and ERK and JNK phosphorylation.

Evaluation of anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities and the phytochemical study of Astragalus arbusculinus gum in animal models

“…Among these compounds, terpenoids (especially saponins) and polysaccharides have shown significant anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects in experimental models [30,31] . Due to the preliminary phytochemical study of the gum extract of A. arbusculinus (mentioned above), the anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects of the gum may be due to the presence of these compounds.…”

NF-κB-modulated miR-130a targets TNF-α in cervical cancer cells

“…It is mainly produced by monocytes, macrophages, initial hemorrhages and necrosis of tumor tissue [20,21]. TNF-α is a secreted protein, mature TNF-α protein plays its role mainly through its receptors on the surface [22-24].…”

2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin-induced inflammatory activation is mediated by intracellular free calcium in microglial cells

“…5). Induction of TNF-␣ by activated NF-кB is reported by many groups (Cheon et al, 2007;He et al, 2012;Yang et al, 2012). On one hand, TNF-␣ secreted from cells activates NF-кB through binding its receptor (JacksonBernitsas et al, 2007).…”