Simonsinol is a natural sesqui-neolignan firstly isolated from the bark of Illicium simonsii. In this study, the anti-inflammatory activity of simonsinol was investigated with a lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated murine macrophages RAW264.7 cells model. The results demonstrated that simonsinol could antagonize the effect of LPS on morphological changes of RAW264.7 cells, and decrease the production of nitric oxide (NO), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), and interleukin 6 (IL-6) in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells, as determined by Griess assay and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Furthermore, simonsinol could downregulate transcription of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), TNF-α, and IL-6 as measured by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and inhibit phosphorylation of the alpha inhibitor of NF-κB (IκBα) as assayed by Western blot. In conclusion, these data demonstrate that simonsinol could inhibit inflammation response in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells through the inactivation of the nuclear transcription factor kappa-B (NF-κB) signaling pathway.
Keywords: Illicium simonsii; NF-κB; anti-inflammatory; sesqui-neolignan; simonsinol.