Tetrandrine suppresses lipopolysaccharide-induced microglial activation by inhibiting NF-κB pathway

• Published in: Acta pharmacologica Sinica Vol. 29; no. 2; pp. 245 - 251
• Main Authors: Xue, Yang, Wang, Ying, Feng, De-chun, Xiao, Bao-guo, Xu, Ling-yun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.02.2008
• Subjects: Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Immunology; Internal Medicine; Medical Microbiology; original-article; Pharmacology/Toxicology; Vaccine; 抑制作用; 氧化一氮; 神经胶质; 过氧化物阴离子; cytokine; NF-κB; nitric oxide; tetrandrine; microglia; superoxide anion
• ISSN: 1671-4083; 1745-7254
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-7254.2008.00734.x

Aim： Microglial activation has been implicated in many neurological diseases. In this study, we examined the effects of tetrandrine （TET）, a major pharmacologically-active compound of Chinese herb Stephania tetrandra S Moore on microglial activation. Methods： The microglia pretreated with or without TET were activated by lipopolysaccharide （LPS） in vitro. Nitric oxide （NO） release, superoxide anion （O2^-） generation, as well as TNF-α and interleukin-6 （IL-6） production by microglia were measured afterwards. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay was performed to determine whether NF-κB activity in microglia was affected by TET treatment. Results： We found that TET inhibited the LPS-induced activation of microglia by decreasing the production of NO and O2^-, consequently affecting the release of TNF-α and IL-6 in LPS-induced microglial activation. Such suppressive effect was accompanied by inhibiting transcription factor NF-κB activation. Conclusion： Our results suggest that TET might modulate LPS-induced microglial activation by inhibiting the NF-κB-mediated release of inflammatory factors.