在巨噬細胞探討六種抗發炎中草藥對LPS / IFN-γ 所誘發一氧化氮生成之影響

Effects of Six Anti-Inflammatory Chinese Herbs on LPS/IFN-γ-Induced Nitric Oxide Production in RAW264.7 Macrophages

本實驗探討六種民間常用抗發炎中草藥的作用機轉是否與干擾發炎物質一氧化氮 （Nitricoxide, NO）的生合成有關。六種中草藥分別是骨碎補（Davallia divaricata, Dd）、青脆枝（Nothapodytes foetida, Nf）、列當（Orobanche caerulescens, Oc）、清明草（Spiranthes sinensis, Ss）、大葉桑寄生（Taxillus liquidambaricolus, Tl）、及槲寄生 （Viscum alniformosanae, Va）。以LPS/IFN-γ誘發培養的巨噬細胞產生過量一氧化氮，藉此模擬體外發炎反應，結果顯示其中的青脆枝及大葉桑寄生這二種中藥之乙醇抽提物可以明顯抑制由LPS/IFN-γ 所誘發的一氧化氮生成、且無明顯細胞毒性，與其民間治療用途相符合，並暗示其抗發炎機轉可能與干擾NO生合成途徑有關，其餘四種中草藥並無顯著活性。The present study was designed to evaluate whether the six Chinese herbs (Davallia divaricata , Dd; Nothapodytes foetida , Nf; Orobanche caerulescens , Oc; Spiranthes sinensis , Ss; Taxillus liquidambaricolus , Tl; Viscum alniformosanae , Va) commonly used as anti-inflammatory drugs in traditional Chinese medicine, influence the induction of nitric oxide (NO), a mediator involved in inflammation. RAW264.7 cell was used as target cell and activated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) plus interferon-γ (IFN-γ ). Our results indicated that two out of six ethanolic crude extracts of Chinese herbs (Nf and Tl) significantly suppressed LPS/IFN-γ -induced NO production in a dose-dependent manner. It is unlikely that cytotoxicity was involved, because no cell deaths were observed. The result was correlated with their putative pharmacological activities. The remaining ethanloic extracts of the other Chinese herbs only had little or no effect on NO production.