Abstract
Microglia are believed to participate in the mediation of neuro-degeneration through producing a variety of cytotoxic factors upon activation. Pharmacological intervention in microglial activation may therefore exert a neuroprotective effect. In exploring pharmacological agents that can affect microglial activation, we found in this study that triptolide possesses a powerful inhibitory influence over microglia. Pretreatment with triptolide was able to dose-dependently reduce the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nitrite accumulation and tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-Iβ release from LPS-activated microglia as revealed by Griess reaction and ELISA, respectively. Triptolide reduced LPS-stimulated mRNA expression of all three inflammatory factors. The results obtained from this study demonstrate that triptolide can inhibit inflammatory responses of microglia to inflammatory stimulation via a mechanism involving the inhibition of the synthesis and release of inflammatory factors.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1091-1095 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | NeuroReport |
Volume | 14 |
Issue number | 7 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 2003 |
Keywords
- Inflammation
- Microglia
- Neuroprotection
- Nitric oxide
- Proinflammatory cytokines
- Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F.
- Triptolide