Artemisolide fromArtemisia asiatica: Nuclear Factor-κB (NF-κB) inhibitor suppressing prostaglandin E2 and nitric oxide production in macrophages

Aerial parts ofArtemisia asiatica (Compositae) have been traditionally used as an oriental medicine for the treatment of inflammatory and ulcerogenic diseases. In the present study, artemisolide was isolated as a nuclear factor (NF)-κB inhibitor fromA. asiatica by activity-guided fractionation. Artemisolide inhibited NF-κB transcriptional activity in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated macrophages RAW 264.7 with an IC50 value of 5.8 μM. The compound was also effective in blocking NF-κB transcriptional activities elicited by the expression vector encoding the NF-κB p65 or p50 subunits bypassing the inhibitory kB degradation signaling NF-κB activation. The macrophages markedly increased their PGE2 and NO production upon exposure to LPS alone. Artemisolide inhibited LPS-induced PGE2 and NO production with IC50 values of 8.7 μM and 6.4 μM, respectively, but also suppressed LPS-induced synthesis of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 or inducible NO synthase (iNOS). Taken together, artemisolide is a NF-κB inhibitor that attenuates LPS-induced production of PGE2 or NOvia down-regulation of COX-2 or iNOS expression in macrophages RAW 264.7. Therefore, artemisolide could represent and provide the anti-inflammatory principle associated with the traditional medicine,A. asiatica.