Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Anti-Neuroinflammatory Effects of Houttuynia cordata Extract on LPS-Stimulated BV-2 Microglia

Tae-Kyu Park¹, Sushruta Koppula¹, Moo-Sung Kim², Seung-Hyo Jung¹, Hyun Kang¹

¹Department of Biotechnology, Research Institute for Biomedical & Health Science, College of Biomedical and Health Science, Konkuk University, Chungju, 380-701; ²R&D Center, Macrocare Tech., Ltd, Ochang 363-883, Republic of Korea, 3KuGen Healthcare Institute, Chungju, 380-150, Republic of Korea.

For correspondence:- Hyun Kang Email: hkang@kku.ac.kr Tel:+82438403603

Received: 10 April 2013 Accepted: 7 July 2013 Published: 23 August 2013

Citation: Park T, Koppula S, Kim M, Jung S, Kang H. Anti-Neuroinflammatory Effects of Houttuynia cordata Extract on LPS-Stimulated BV-2 Microglia. Trop J Pharm Res 2013; 12(4):523-528 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v12i4.12

© 2013 The authors.
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Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the anti-neuroinflammatory effects of Houttuynia cordata extract (H. cordata) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated BV-2 microglial cells, and its anti-oxidant properties.

Methods: Anti-oxidant properties were evaluated by 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay. Cell viability was assessed by 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5- diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. LPS was used to stimulate BV-2 cells. Nitric oxide (NO) levels were measured using Griess assay. Inducible NO synthase (iNOS) expression, interleukin (IL)-6 expressional level were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Western blot analysis.

Results: Ethyl actetae (HC-EA) extract of H. cordata significantly scavenged DPPH free radicals in a concentration-dependent fashion. The increased levels of NO, iNOS and IL-6 in LPS-stimulated BV-2 microglial cells were also suppressed by HC-EA extract in a concentration-dependent manner.

Conclusion:The result indicate that the HC-EA extract exhibited strong anti-oxidant properties and inhibited the excessive production of pro-inflammatory mediators, including NO, iNOS and IL-6, in LPS-stimulated BV-2 cells. The anti-oxidant phenolic compounds present in HC-EA extract might play an important role in ameliorating neuroinflammatory processes in LPS-stimulated BV-2 microglial cells.

Keywords: Houttuynia cordata, DPPH radicals, antioxidant, neuroinflammation, BV-2 cells, iNOS, COX-2, IL-6