ABSTRACT
Introduction@#After central nervous system injury, microglia cells are activated to initiate inflammatory responses and release cytokines that beneficially or detrimentally affect surrounding cells. Lipopolysaccharide stimulates microglia cells and produce pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α. A dehydrocostus lactone (DDL) which is contained in medicinal plant, Saussurea lappa, is considered to have various health benefits in neurodegenerative diseases of central nervous system. </br> In this study, we aimed to investigate the anti-inflammatory effects of Dehydrocostus Lactone following lipopolysaccharide stimulation of microglial cells in vitro.@*Materials and Method@#The anti-inflammatory effects of dehydrocostus lactone were studied using lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulated murine microglia (BV2). BV2 were cultered in DMEM then three different doses (4µM, 8µM and 12µM) of DDL were added in the medium for 30 minutes respectively. Then BV2 were treated with 1 ng/ ml LPS for 24 hours to stimulate. The level of IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α were measured in 100µl of culturemedium supernatant by ELISA. Three different doses of DDL anti-inflammation groups (BV2+DDL+LPS), LPS-activated group (BV2+LPS) and control group (only BV2) were analysed. @*Results@#LPS-treated BV2 cells had increased IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α compared with those without LPS treatment. Pretreatment with dehydrocostus lactone prior to LPS treatment significantly decreased levels of IL-1β and TNF-α in a dose-dependent manner compared with LPS-treated BV2 cells and 4µM was the most effective anti-inflammatory dose of dehydrocostus lactone. As for IL-6, 12µM dehydrocostus lactone was the most effective anti-inflammatory dose, although all doses significantly decreased the level of IL-6, in a dose-dependent manner. @*Conclusion@#These results show that DDL decrease inflammation related IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α in a dose-dependent manner in microglia cells.