Abstract
Context: Punica granatum L (Punicaceae) flower is an important diabetes treatment in oriental herbal medicine.Objective: This study investigates the inflammation effects of pomegranate flower (PFE) ethanol extract in LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells.Materials and methods: PFE (10, 25, 50, 100 μg/mL) was applied to 1 μg/mL LPS-induced RAW 264.7 macrophages in vitro. Levels of nitric oxide (NO), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-1β (IL-1β), interleukin (IL)-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) in the supernatant fraction were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) subgroups extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and P38, as well as nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) activation in extracts were detected via Western blot.Results: 10–100 μg/mL PFE decreased the production of NO (IC50 value = 31.8 μg/mL), PGE2 (IC50 value = 54.5 μg/mL), IL-6 (IC50 value = 48.7 μg/mL), IL-1β (IC50 value = 71.3 μg/mL) and TNF-α (IC50 value = 62.5 μg/mL) in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells significantly. A mechanism-based study showed that phosphorylation of ERK1/2, p38, JNK and translocation of the NF-B p65 subunit into nuclei were inhibited by the PFE treatment.Discussion and conclusion: These results show that PFE produced potential anti-inflammatory effect through modulating the synthesis of several mediators and cytokines involved in the inflammatory process.
Highlights
Punica granatum L. (Punicaceae), commonly known as pomegranate, is commercially cultivated for its edible fruit in the drier regions of Southeast Asia, the Mediterranean region, and the United States (Yuan et al 2012)
The effect and action mechanism of a methanol extract from pomegranate flowers on hyperglycemia in vivo and in vitro were investigated, and the studies indicated that pomegranate flowers improve postprandial hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetes by inhibiting glucosidase activity (Li et al 2005)
The present study examined the potential for pomegranate flower (PFE) to reduce inflammation effects in LPSstimulated RAW 264.7 murine macrophages in vitro
Summary
Punica granatum L. (Punicaceae), commonly known as pomegranate, is commercially cultivated for its edible fruit in the drier regions of Southeast Asia, the Mediterranean region, and the United States (Yuan et al 2012). The phytochemical and pharmacological actions of all Punica granatum components suggest a wide range of clinical applications where inflammation is believed to play an essential etiologic role (Lansky and Newman 2007). Preliminary studies reported the anti-inflammatory effect of pomegranate flower extract (Rahima et al 2009); the functional components and underlying mechanism remained uncertain. Macrophages play critical roles in immune reactions, allergy, inflammation and they protect the body from external intruders through phagocytosis (Shi et al 2009). During this process, macrophages produce many kinds of inflammatory mediators such as IL-1b, TNF-a, NO, and prostaglandins (Shao et al 2013).
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