Licorice Flavonoids Inhibit Eotaxin-1 Secretion by Human Fetal Lung Fibroblasts in Vitro
- 8 January 2009
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Chemical Society (ACS) in Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
- Vol. 57 (3), 820-825
- https://doi.org/10.1021/jf802601j
Abstract
Glycyrrhiza uralensis (Gan-Cao), commonly called “licorice”, is one of the most commonly used herbs in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). In the United States, licorice products are most often consumed as flavoring and sweetening agents in food products. The licorice triterpenoid glycyrrhizin has several biological activities, including anti-inflammatory activity. Other potential anti-inflammatory constituents in G. uralensis have not been fully investigated. Airway eosinophilic inflammation is a major feature of allergic asthma. Eotaxin-1 (eotaxin) is involved in the recruitment of eosinophils to sites of antigen-induced inflammation in asthmatic airways. Because human lung fibroblasts are the major source of eotaxin, inhibition of eosinophil recruitment by suppression of fibroblast eotaxin production is a potentially valuable approach for the pharmacological intervention in asthma. A systematic bioassay-guided purification of G. uralensis yielded five flavonoids: liquiritin, liquiritigenin, isoliquiritigenin, 7,4′-dihydroxyflavone, and isoononin. The structures of the compounds were established by 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and liquid chromatography−mass spectrometry (LC−MS) studies. The potential ability of these isolated pure compounds and glycyrrhizin to inhibit secretion of eotaxin-1 by human fetal lung fibroblasts (HFL-1) was tested. Liquiritigenin, isoliquiritigenin, and 7,4′-dihydroxyflavone were more effective than liquiritin, isoononin, and glycyrrhizin in suppressing eotaxin secretion. A concentration−response study showed the IC50 concentrations of liquiritigenin, isoliquiritigenin, and 7,4′-dihydroxyflavone were 4.2, 0.92, and 0.21 μg/mL, respectively, demonstrating that Glycyrrhiza flavonoids inhibit eotaxin-1 secretion in vitro.Keywords
This publication has 29 references indexed in Scilit:
- Expert Panel Report 3 (EPR-3): Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Asthma–Summary Report 2007Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 2007
- Traditional Chinese herbal remedies for asthma and food allergyJournal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 2007
- In Vitro and In Vivo Antiallergic Effects of Glycyrrhiza glabra and Its ComponentsPlanta Medica, 2007
- Liquiritigenin, an aglycone of liquiritin in Glycyrrhizae radix, prevents acute liver injuries in rats induced by acetaminophen with or without buthionine sulfoximineChemico-Biological Interactions, 2006
- Efficacy and tolerability of antiasthma herbal medicine intervention in adult patients with moderate-severe allergic asthmaJournal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 2005
- The Pathophysiology of AsthmaAnnual Review of Medicine, 2002
- Inhibitory Effect of Baicalein, a Flavonoid in Scutellaria Root, on Eotaxin Production by Human Dermal FibroblastsPlanta Medica, 2001
- Relationship between interleukin-5 and eotaxin in regulating blood and tissue eosinophilia in mice.JCI Insight, 1997
- Flavonoid glucosides from licoricePhytochemistry, 1984
- Über die Inhaltstoffe des wäßrigen Extraktes von Ononis spinosa L.Archiv der Pharmazie, 1978