Carpinus turczaninowii extract modulates arterial inflammatory response: a potential therapeutic use for atherosclerosis

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Vascular inflammation is an important feature in the atherosclerotic process. Recent studies report that leaves and branches of Carpinus turczaninowii (C. turczaninowii) have antioxidant capacity and exert anti-inflammatory effects. However, no study has reported the regulatory effect of C. turczaninowii extract on the arterial inflammatory response. This study therefore investigated modulation of the arterial inflammatory response after exposure to C. turczaninowii extract, using human aortic vascular smooth muscle cells (HAoSMCs). MATERIALS/METHODS: Scavenging activity of free radicals, total phenolic content (TPC), cell viability, mRNA expressions, and secreted levels of cytokines were measured in LPS-stimulated (10 ng/mL) HAoSMCs treated with the C. turczaninowii extract. RESULTS: C. turczaninowii extract contains high amounts of TPC (225.6 ± 21.0 mg of gallic acid equivalents/g of the extract), as well as exerts time-and dose-dependent increases in strongly scavenged free radicals (average 14.8 ± 1.97 µg/mL IC50 at 40 min). Cell viabilities after exposure to the extracts (1 and 10 µg/mL) were similar to the viability of non-treated cells. Cytokine mRNA expressions were significantly suppressed by the extracts (1 and 10 µg/mL) at 6 hours (h) after exposure. Interleukin-6 secretion was dose-dependently suppressed 2 h after incubation with the extract, at 1–10 µg/mL in non-stimulated cells, and at 5 and 10 µg/mL in LPS-stimulated cells. Similar patterns were also observed at 24 h after incubation with the extract (at 1–10 µg/mL in non-stimulated cells, and at 10 µg/mL in the LPS-stimulated cells). Soluble intracellular vascular adhesion molecules (sICAM-1) secreted from non-stimulated cells and LPS-stimulated cells were similarly suppressed in a dose-dependent manner after 24 h exposure to the extracts, but not after 2 h. In addition, sICAM-1 concentration after 24 h treatment was positively related to IL-6 levels after 2 h and 24 h exposure (r = 0.418, P = 0.003, and r = 0.524, P < 0.001, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that C. turczaninowii modulates the arterial inflammatory response, and indicates the potential to be applied as a therapeutic use for atherosclerosis.

The Chloroform Fraction of Carpinus tschonoskii Leaves Inhibits the Production of Inflammatory Mediators in HaCaT Keratinocytes and RAW264.7 Macrophages

Inflammation is the immune system's response to infection and injury-related disorders, and is related to pro-inflammatory factors (NO, PGE2, cytokines, etc.) produced by inflammatory cells. Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a representative inflammatory skin disease that is characterized by increasing serum levels of inflammatory chemokines, including macrophage-derived chemokine (MDC). Carpinus tschonoskii is a member of the genus Carpinus. We investigated the anti-inflammatory activity of C. tschonoskii by studying the effects of various solvent fractions prepared from its leaves on inflammatory mediators in HaCaT and RAW264.7 cells. We found that the chloroform fraction of C. tschonoskii inhibited MDC at both the protein and mRNA levels in HaCaT cells, acting via the inhibition of STAT1 in the IFN-gamma signaling pathway. In addition, the chloroform fraction significantly suppressed the expression of inflammatory factors induced by lipopolysaccharide stimulation, except COX-2 and TNF-alpha. These results suggest that the chloroform fraction of C. tschonoskii leaves may include a component with potential anti-inflammatory activity.

Anti-inflammatory Activity of Carpinus tschonoskii Leaves Extract in R848-stimulated Bone Marrow-derived Macrophages and Dendritic Cells

The present study aims to evaluate the anti-inflammatory effect of methanol extract from leaves of Carpinus tschonoskii (CE) on R848-stimulated primary bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) and dendritic cells (BMDCs). Primary BMDMs and BMDCs were used for pro-inflammatory cytokine production. Human embryonic kidney cell line 293T (HEK293T) was used to access NF-kappaB activity. In all cases, R848 was used to stimulate the cells. The CE (0~150 microg/ml) was treated to BMDMs, BMDCs, and HEK293T cells. CE pre-treatment in R848-stimulated BMDMs and BMDCs showed a dose-dependent inhibitory effect on pro-inflammatory cytokine (e.g., IL-12 p40, IL-6, and TNF-alpha) production as compared to non-treated controls. In NF-kappaB reporter gene assay, the CE pre-treatment inhibited NF-kappaB-dependent luciferase activity in a dose-dependent manner. Overall, our findings suggest that CE has significant inhibitory effect on pro-inflammatory cytokine production and deserve further studies concerning potentials of CE for medicinal uses.

Measurement of tannin in treebarks of oak, beech, alder, horn beam and black walnut

In Antiquty, The treebarks were used as medication. The most of treebarks have tannin that is important material in vegetative universe. this important plant material has Antiseptic and protein coagulating properties. The purpose of this investigation is quantitating of tannin from the treebarks such as black walnut, oak, alder, horn beam and beech. The total extractive matrials obtained according TAPPI standard. The bark phenolic compound were obtained according Calberg and Kurth scheme. Tannin was evaluated by Tanoform method. Experiments showed that the total extractive content of these species were 29.8, 23.2, 17.9, 16.8 and 16.7 percent respectively. Also, it was shown that the total phenolic materials were 26.3, 21.2, 13.6, 12.9 and 14.0 percent respectively. By sequential precipitation, Flobatannins, Flobaphens and Flavonoids were separated and measured quantitavely. Also the percentage of tannin in extractive materials of species were evaluated between 40-50%. Generally, The total extractive materials in this study were obtained between 17-30 percent which almost half of that is tannin. The minimum and maximum of tannin belong to beech and walnut Species respectively. Hydrolysable and condensed tannins have medical and industries application