Shepherd’s Purse Polyphenols Exert Its Anti-Inflammatory and Antioxidative Effects Associated with Suppressing MAPK and NF-κB Pathways and Heme Oxygenase-1 Activation

Abstract EN

Shepherd’s purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris (L.) Medik.), a wild herb as a traditional herbal medicine, has been proved with multiple healthy benefits.

In this study, the chemical constituents of shepherd’s purse were identified by UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS.

The antioxidative and anti-inflammatory potential of shepherd’s purse extract (SPE) were also investigated applying lipopolysaccharide- (LPS-) induced inflammation in RAW 264.7 macrophages and a carrageenan-induced mice paw edema model.

Twenty-four chemical compounds were identified mainly including phenolic acids and flavonoids.

The data also indicated SPE inhibited the productions of NO, PGE2, TNF-α, and IL-6 stimulated with LPS.

In addition, SPE inhibited the increase of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and upregulated the expression of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1).

We further found that SPE inhibited the phosphorylation of P38 MAPK and activation of NF-κB.

In vivo mice model also indicated that SPE showed strong antioxidative and anti-inflammatory activity.