Suppression of nitric oxide and interleukin-6 production by methanol extract of Sophorae Flos in macrophage cells / 대한치주과학회지

Both nitric oxide (NO) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) have been thought to have a role in the pathogenesis of inflammatory periodontal disease as it does in other inflammatory diseases, and the inhibitors of NO and IL-6 production have been considered as potential anti-inflammatory agents. In this study, we evaluated methanol extract of Sophorae Flos for inhibition of NO and IL-6 production in Prevotella intermedia LPS-induced mouse macrophages RAW264.7 cells. Dried Sophorae Flos was sliced, and extracted with 100% methanol. LPS from P. intermedia ATCC 25611 was prepared by the standard hot phenol-water method. NO production was assayed by measuring the accumulation of nitrite in culture supernatants and IL-6 was measured using mouse IL-6 ELISA kit. Western blot analysis of iNOS and analysis of reverse transcription (RT)-PCR products were carried out. The methanol extract of Sophorae Flos concentration-dependently reduced the production of NO and the expression of iNOS protein and mRNA in RAW264.7 cells treated with P. intermedia LPS. Sophorae Flos also suppressed IL-6 production and the expression of IL-6 mRNA in RAW264.7 cells stimulated by P. intermedia LPS. The inhibition of NO and IL-6 production by Sophorae Flos may be useful in the therapy of inflammatory diseases such as periodontitis. This hypothesis, however, remains to be tested.

Expression of mRNA for matrix metalloproteinases and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases in human gingival and periodontal ligament fibroblasts treated with lipopolysaccharide from Prevotella intermedia / 대한치주과학회지

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are a family of host-derived proteolytic enzymes and implicated in the remodeling and degradation of extracellular matrix under both physiological and pathological conditions. Connective tissue degradation in periodontal diseases is thought to be due to excessive MMP activities over their specific inhibitors. The effects of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from Prevotella intermedia, one of the major putative pathogens of periodontitis, on the expression of mRNA for MMPs and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) in human gingival and periodontal ligament fibroblasts were examined by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The expression of mRNAs encoding MMP-1, -2, -3, -10, and -14 was increased in human gingival fibroblasts treated with P. intermedia LPS, whereas MMP-11 and TIMP-2 mRNA expression was decreased in these cells stimulated with LPS. P. intermedia LPS increased the MMP-1, -2, -10, -11, and -14 mRNA expression and decreased TIMP-1 and -2 mRNA expression in human periodontal ligament fibroblasts. These findings imply that P. intermedia LPS may play an important role in the connective tissue degradation in periodontitis.