earticle

영어

The aim of this study was to elucidate the anti-inflammatory activity of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.)ethanolic extract fractions (CFEFs). Butanol fraction had the strongest antioxidant activity, and all CFEFs, except forchloroform fraction, partly inhibited lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nitrite production in RAW 264.7 cells. In the cell-freesystem, hexane and butanol fractions chemically quenched nitric oxide (NO). In addition, the iNOS mRNA transcription wassuppressed by ethanol extract and hexane fraction in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. Taken together, the inhibitory effect ofCFEFs on NO production from LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells, might be due to both the chemical NO quenching activityand the suppression of iNOS mRNA transcription partially. The synthesis of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) was potently inhibitedby ethanol extract to below basal label, and the transcription of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), an enzyme involving in PGE2synthesis, was partially suppressed by ethanol extract and hexane fraction. Based on these results, CFEFs may be useful as analternative medicine for the relief and retardation of immunological inflammatory responses through the reduction ofinflammatory mediators, including NO and PGE2 production.