title: Anti-inflammatory effects of shea butter through inhibition of iNOS, COX-2, and cytokines via the Nf-κB pathway in LPS-activated J774 macrophage cells.
abstract: Shea butter is traditionally used in Africa for its anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects. In this study we explored the anti-inflammatory activities of the methanolic extract of shea butter (SBE) using lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced murine macrophage cell line J774. It was observed that SBE significantly reduced the levels of LPS-induced nitric oxide, Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukins, 1β (IL-1β), and -12 (IL-12) in the culture supernatants in a dose dependent manner. Expression of pro-inflammatory enzymes, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) were also inhibited by SBE. These anti-inflammatory effects were due to an inhibitory action of SBE on LPS-induced iNOS, COX-2, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-12 mRNA expressions. Moreover, SBE efficiently suppressed IκB phosphorylation and NF-κB nuclear translocation induced by LPS. These findings explain the molecular bases of shea butter's bioactivity against various inflammatory conditions and substantiate it as a latent source of novel therapeutic agents.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology.
authors.forename: Nandini
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Verma
authors.forename: Rina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chakrabarti
authors.forename: Rakha H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Das
authors.forename: Hemant K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Gautam
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002460:Cell Line; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2 / Q000378:metabolism; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D018664:Interleukin-12 / Q000378:metabolism; D053583:Interleukin-1beta / Q000378:metabolism; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000494:pharmacology; D008264:Macrophages / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000378:metabolism; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II / Q000378:metabolism; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010946:Plants, Medicinal; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D029632:Sapotaceae; D012639:Seeds; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D053583:Interleukin-1beta; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D016328:NF-kappa B; D010936:Plant Extracts; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D018664:Interleukin-12; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II; C496317:Nos2 protein, mouse; C077623:Ptgs2 protein, mouse; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2