Neuroinflammation causes various neurological disorders, including depression and neurodegenerative diseases. Therefore, regulation of neuroinflammation is a promising therapeutic strategy for inflammation-related neurological disorders. This study aimed to investigate whether yomogin, isolated from Artemisia iwayomogi, has anti-neuroinflammatory effects. First, we evaluated the effects of yomogin by assessing pro-inflammatory mediators and cytokines in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated BV2 microglial cells. The results showed that yomogin inhibited the increase in neuroinflammatory factors, including nitric oxide, inducible nitric oxide synthase, cyclooxygenase-2, interleukin-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α, and suppressed phosphorylation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase, extracellular signal-regulated kinase and p38, which participate in the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway. To confirm these effects in vivo, we measured the activation of astrocyte and microglia in LPS-injected mouse brains. Results showed that yomogin treatment decreased astrocyte and microglia activations. Collectively, these results suggest that yomogin suppresses neuroinflammation by regulating the MAPK pathway and it could be a potential candidate for inflammation-mediated neurological diseases.
Keywords: Artemisia iwayomogi; ERK extracellular signal-regulated kinase; JNK mitogen-activated protein kinases; neuroinflammation; p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases; yomogin.