Carpesium abrotanoides extract inhibits cyclooxygenase-2 expression induced by toll-like receptor agonists

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are a group of pattern-recognition receptors that play an important role in the induction of innate immune responses, recognizing conserved microbial structural molecules. The microbial pathogens trigger the activation of myeloid differential factor 88 (MyD88)- and toll-interleukin-1 receptor domain-containing adapter inducing interferon-β (TRIF)-dependent pathways, leading to proinflammatory cytokine production. Here, we investigated the effect of the ethanol extracts of Carpesium abrotanoides (CAB), a traditional Korean medicine, on the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) by TLR agonists in murine macrophages. CAB suppressed COX-2 expression induced by lipopolysaccharide (TLR4 agonist), polyriboinosinic polyribocytidylic acid (TLR3 agonist), and macrophage-activating lipopeptide 2-kDa (TLR2 and TLR6 agonist). These results suggest that CAB can regulate the TLR signaling pathways to treat chronic inflammatory diseases.