Anti-inflammatory effects of Zea mays L. husk extracts

BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Research Article

Young-Soo Kim¹  Eunsun Jung¹  Kyung-Baeg Roh¹  Hyoyoung Kim¹  Jung-A Lee¹  Seungwoo Shin¹  Deokhoon Park¹  Mi Ok Kim²  Jongsung Lee² 

[1] Biospectrum Life Science Institute, Eines Platz 11th FL, 442-13 Sangdaewon Dong, 462-807, Seoungnam City, Gyeonggi Do, Republic of Korea;Department of Genetic Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, 2066 Seobu Ro, 164-19, Suwon City, Gyeonggi Do, Republic of Korea;

关键词: Zea mays;    iNOS;    COX-2;    NF-kB;    ICAM-1;    AP-1;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12906-016-1284-9

 received in 2016-02-15, accepted in 2016-08-12,  发布年份 2016

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundZea mays L. (Z. mays) has been used for human consumption in the various forms of meal, cooking oil, thickener in sauces and puddings, sweetener in processed food and beverage products, bio-disel. However, especially, in case of husk extract of Z. mays, little is known about its anti-inflammatory effects. Therefore, in this study, the anti-inflammatory effects of Z. mays husk extract (ZMHE) and its mechanisms of action were investigated.MethodsThe husks of Z. Mays were harvested in kangwondo, Korea. To assess the anti-inflammatory activities of ZMHE, we examined effects of ZMHE on nitric oxide (NO) production, and release of soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) and eotaxin-1. The expression level of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) gene was also determined by Western blot and luciferase reporter assays. To determine its mechanisms of action, a luciferase reporter assay for nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB) and activator protein-1 (AP-1) was introduced.ResultsZMHE inhibited lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced production of NO in RAW264.7 cells. In addition, expression of iNOS gene was reduced, as confirmed by Western blot and luciferase reporter assays. Effects of ZMHE on the AP-1 and NF-kB promoters were examined to elucidate the mechanism of its anti-inflammatory activity. Activation of AP-1 and NF-kB promoters induced by LPS was significantly reduced by ZMHE treatment. In addition, LPS-induced production of sICAM-1 and IL-4-induced production of eotaxin-1 were all reduced by ZMHE.ConclusionsOur results indicate that ZMHE has anti-inflammatory effects by downregulating the expression of iNOS gene and its downregulation is mediated by inhibiting NF-kB and AP-1 signaling.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2016