Inhibition of LPS-stimulated NO production in mouse macrophage-like cells by Barbados cherry, a fruit of Malpighia emarginata DC.
The extract of Barbados cherry (acerola fruit), a fruit of Malpighia emarginata DC., has been reported to display diverse biological activities such as prevention of age-related diseases. We investigated here the possible effect of Barbados cherry extract on nitric oxide (NO) production by activated macrophages. Barbados cherry was roughly separated into 4 or 5 fractions by two different methods, using various organic solvents such as hexane, acetone, methanol (70% and 100%) and water, and assayed for its ability to inhibit NO production by lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated mouse macrophage-like Raw 264.7 cells. Among these fractions, AcOEt extracts (AE0) in Method I and acetone extract (A0) in Method II showed the highest inhibitory activity of NO production (SI > 20 and SI = 31, respectively). When these fractions were subjected to silica gel column chromatography, higher inhibitory activity for NO production was concentrated in AcOEt (AE6) (SI = 64) and benzene-AcOEt (1:4) (A10) fractions (SI > 59). Western blot analysis demonstrated that AE6 and A10 fractions reduced the intracellular concentration of inducible NO synthase (iNOS) by approximately one-third. ESR spectroscopy showed that these fractions scavenged various radical species such as superoxide anion (O2-) and NO radicals. These data suggest that the inhibitory effect on NO production by Barbados cherry extracts is partly due to the inhibition of iNOS expression, and scavenging of O2- and NO radicals.
Wakabayashi
Hidetsugu
H
Faculty of Science, Josai University, Sakado, Saitama 350-0295, Japan.
Fukushima
Hidetaka
H
Yamada
Tomoko
T
Kawase
Masami
M
Shirataki
Yoshiaki
Y
Satoh
Kazue
K
Tobe
Takashi
T
Hashimoto
Ken
K
Kurihara
Teruo
T
Motohashi
Noboru
N
Sakagami
Hiroshi
H
D000818:Animals; D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / Q000494:pharmacology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D016166:Free Radical Scavengers / Q000494:pharmacology; D005638:Fruit / Q000737:chemistry*; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000494:pharmacology; D008264:Macrophages / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism*; D029581:Malpighiaceae / Q000737:chemistry*; D051379:Mice; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000378:metabolism; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*
D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; D016166:Free Radical Scavengers; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D010936:Plant Extracts; D009569:Nitric Oxide; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II; C496317:Nos2 protein, mouse