Ethyl Acetate Extract of Artemisia anomala S. Moore Displays Potent Anti-Inflammatory Effect

Abstract EN

Artemisia anomala S.

Moore has been widely used in China to treat inflammatory diseases for hundreds of years.

However, mechanisms associated with its anti-inflammatory effect are not clear.

In this study, we prepared ethyl acetate, petroleum ether, n-BuOH, and aqueous extracts from ethanol extract of Artemisia anomala S.

Moore.

Comparing anti-inflammatory effects of these extracts, we found that ethyl acetate extract of this herb (EAFA) exhibited the strongest inhibitory effect on nitric oxide (NO) production in LPS/IFNγ-stimulated RAW264.7 cells.

EAFA suppressed the production of NO in a time- and dose-dependent manner without eliciting cytotoxicity to RAW264.7 cells.

To understand the molecular mechanism underlying EAFA’s anti-inflammatory effect, we showed that EAFA increased total cellular anti-oxidant capacity while reducing the amount of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in stimulated RAW264.7 cells.

EAFA also suppressed the expression of IL-1β and IL-6, whereas it elevates the level of heme oxygenase-1.

These EAFA-induced events were apparently associated with NF-κB and MAPK signaling pathways because the DNA binding activity of p50/p65 was impaired and the activities of both ERK and JNK were decreased in EFEA-treated cells comparing to untreated cells.

Our findings suggest that EAFA exerts its anti-inflammatory effect by inhibiting the expression of iNOS.