Inflammatory conditions mediated by activated microglia lead to chronic neuro-degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s diseases. This study was conducted to determine the effect of floridoside isolated from marine red algae Laurencia undulata on LPS (100 ng/ml) activated inflammatory responses in BV-2 microglia cells. The results show that floridoside has the ability to suppress pro-inflammatory responses in microglia by markedly inhibiting the production of nitric oxide (NO) and reactive oxygen species (ROS). Moreover, floridoside down-regulated the protein and gene expression levels of iNOS and COX-2 by significantly blocking the phosphorylation of p38 and ERK in BV-2 cells. Collectively, these results indicate that floridoside has the potential to be developed as an active agent for the treatment of neuro-inflammation. [BMB Reports 2013; 46(8): 398-403]

Particulate matter (PM), a widespread airborne contaminant, is a complex mixture of solid and liquid particles suspended in the air. Recent studies have demonstrated that PM induces oxidative stress and inflammatory reactions, and may cause certain skin diseases. Afzelin is a flavonoid isolated from Thesium chinense Turcz, which has anti-inflammatory, anticancer and antibacterial properties. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate if afzelin affected inflammatory responses in human keratinocytes exposed to PM. HaCaT cells were treated with PM (25 g/cm(2)) in the presence or absence of afzelin (200 M). Here, standard reference material 1649b was used as PM. Cell viability was assessed using the water-soluble tetrazolium salt-1 assay. The generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was measured using the dichloro-dihydrofluorescein diacetate assay. Gene and protein expression were investigated using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis, respectively. Levels of secreted inflammatory cytokines were measured using ELISA. The results suggested that afzelin inhibited PM-induced proinflammatory cytokine mRNA expression and protein secretion in HaCaT cells. In addition, afzelin suppressed PM-induced intracellular ROS generation, and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase and transcription factor activator protein-1 component c-Fos and c-Jun activation. The results indicated that afzelin exerts anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects in PM-exposed HaCaT. Afzelin may have potential for preventing PM-induced inflammatory skin diseases.

Kim M, et al. Ann Dermatol. 2021 Apr;33(2):116-121. https://doi.org/10.5021/ad.2021.33.2.116