Anti-inflammatory effect of glycyrrhetinic acid in IL-1β-induced SW982 cells and adjuvant-induced arthritis

Yang Song; Xinyu Xing; Jing Shen; Guo Chen; Li Zhao; Lu Tian; Jie Ying; Yongqiang Yu

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e15588

Anti-inflammatory effect of glycyrrhetinic acid in IL-1β-induced SW982 cells and adjuvant-induced arthritis

Heliyon. 2023 Apr 28;9(5):e15588. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e15588. eCollection 2023 May.

Authors

Yang Song^{1

2}, Xinyu Xing¹, Jing Shen¹, Guo Chen³, Li Zhao¹, Lu Tian³, Jie Ying³, Yongqiang Yu⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pain, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230022, China.
² Inflammation and Immune Mediated Diseases Laboratory of Anhui Province, Hefei 230022, China.
³ Department of Gynecology, Maternity and Child Health Hospital Affiliated to Anhui Medical University, Anhui Province Maternity and Child Health Hospital, No. 15 Yimin Street, Hefei 230001, Anhui, China.
⁴ Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, No. 218 Jixi Road, Hefei 230032, Anhui, China.

Abstract

Influences of Glycyrrhetinic acid on expression of inflammatory factors in interleukin (IL)-1β-induced SW982 cells and its anti-inflammatory effects were discussed in this study. MTT results showed that Glycyrrhetinic acid (≤80 μmol·L-1) almost has no toxicity on SW982 cells. The results of ELISA and real-time PCR showed that Glycyrrhetinic acid (10, 20 and 40 μmol · L-1) can significantly inhibit the expression of inflammatory factors such as IL-6, IL-8 and matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1). Western blot analysis showed that Glycyrrhetinic acid remarkably blocked the NF-κB signaling pathway in vitro. Molecule docking showed that Glycyrrhetinic acid could bind to the active site (NLS Polypeptide) of NF-κB p65. Furthermore, observation of rat foot swelling proved that Glycyrrhetinic acid had a significant therapeutic effect on adjuvant-induced arthritis (AIA) in rats in vivo. Collectively, all these findings suggested that Glycyrrhetinic acid might be a promising lead compound worthy of further pursuit as anti-inflammation agent.

Keywords: AIA; Anti-Inflammatory; Glycyrrhetinic acid; NF-κB p65; SW982 cells.