Inhibitory effect of ferulic acid on neuroinflammation in LPS-activated microglia / 中国药理学通报

ABSTRACT

Aim To evaluate the effects of ferulic acid ( FA ) on lipopolysaccharide ( LPS )-induced neuroin-flammation in microglia cells and its potential mecha-nisms. Methods Microglial activation was induced by stimulation with LPS, and the effects of FA pretreat-ment on microglial activation and production of proin-flammatory mediators, nitric oxide/iNOS were investi-gated. The role of the mitogen-activated protein kinases in the antiinflammatory actions of FA in LPS-stimulated microglia was further elucidated. Results Cell viabil-ity experiments revealed that FA did not produce cyto-toxicity in microglia. FA significantly inhibited LPS-in-duced production of tumour necrosis factor-alpha ( TNF-α) , interleukin-6 ( IL-6 ) , interleukin-1 beta ( IL-1β) , and nitric oxide ( NO ) . Protein and mRNA levels of COX-2 and inducible nitric oxide synthase ( iNOS) were also attenuated by FA. Further experi-ments on intracellular signalling mechanisms showed that inhibition of extracellular regulated kinase ( ERK) contributed to the anti-neuroinflammatory actions of FA. Conclusion The results suggest that FA inhibits LPS-induced microglial inflammation by partial targe-ting of ERK signalling and attenuation of ERK.