title: Ethyl acetate extracts of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) sprouts inhibit lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammation in vitro and in vivo.
abstract: This study aimed to investigate if food components that exert anti-inflammatory effects may be used for inflammatory disorders by examining alfalfa sprout ethyl acetate extract (ASEA). The cytokine profile and life span of BALB/c mice with acute inflammation after intra-peritoneal (ip) injection of 15 mg/kg BW lipopolysaccharide (LPS) were determined. The results showed that the life span of LPS-induced inflammatory mice were negatively correlated with serum levels of TNF-alpha, IL-6, and IL-1beta at 9 hr after LPS-injection, which indicated that suppressing these cytokines in the late phase of inflammation may be beneficial for survival. The in vitro experiment then showed that ASEA significantly reduced IL-6 and IL-1beta production and the NF-kappaB trans-activation activity of mitogen-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. To further evaluate the anti-inflammatory effects of ASEA in vivo, BALB/c mice were tube-fed with 25 mg ASEA/kg BW/day in 50 microl sunflower oil, while the control and PDTC (pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate, an anti-inflammatory agent) groups were tube-fed with 50 microl sunflower oil/day only. After one week of tube-feeding, the PDTC group was injected with 50 mg/kg BW PDTC and one hour later, all of the mice were injected with 15 mg/kg BW LPS. The results showed that the ASEA and PDTC groups had significantly lower serum TNF-alpha, IL-6, and IL-1beta levels at 9 hr after LPS challenge, and significantly higher survival rates than the control group. This study suggests that ASEA supplementation can suppress the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and alleviate acute inflammatory hazards.
authors: Department of Biochemical Science and Technology, Institute of Microbiology and Biochemistry, College of Life Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors: Yong-Han
authors: YH
authors: Hong
authors: Wen-Wan
authors: WW
authors: Chao
authors: Miaw-Ling
authors: ML
authors: Chen
authors: Bi-Fong
authors: BF
authors: Lin
mesh_terms: D000085:Acetates / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D007249:Inflammation; D053583:Interleukin-1beta / Q000378:metabolism; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000378:metabolism; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000378:metabolism*; D008264:Macrophages / Q000378:metabolism; D000455:Medicago sativa / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000085:Acetates; D016207:Cytokines; D053583:Interleukin-1beta; D015850:Interleukin-6; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D010936:Plant Extracts; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; C007650:ethyl acetate