Nat Prod Sci.  2022 Sep;28(3):153-160. 10.20307/nps.2022.28.3.153.

Inhibitory Effects of Forsythia velutina and its Chemical Constituents on LPS-induced Nitric Oxide Production in BV2 Microglial Cells

• Kim NY
• Ko MS
• Lee CH
• Lee TJ
• Hwang KW
• Park SY

• KMID: 2534114
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.20307/nps.2022.28.3.153

Abstract

Neuroinflammation is known to be associated with brain injury in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and the inhibition of microglial activation, a key player in inflammatory response, is considerd as important target for AD. In this study, the ethanol extract of aerial parts of Forsythia velutina Nakai, a Korean native species, significantly inhibited nitric oxide (NO) production in LPS-stimulated BV2 microglial cells. Thus, the active principles in F. velutina aerial parts were isolated based on activity-guided isolation method. As a result, six compounds were isolated and their structures were elucidated based on NMR data and the comparison with the relevant references as arctigenin (1), matairesinol (2), rengyolone (3), ursolic acid (4), secoisolariciresinol (5), and arctiin (6). Among them, four compounds including arctigenin (1), matairesinol (2), secoisolariciresinol (5), and arctiin (6) significantly inhibited NO production in a dose-dependent manner. In particular, matairesinol (2) and secoisolariciresinol (5) reduced 60% of NO production compared to LPS-treated group. This inhibitory effects of matairesinol (2) and secoisolariciresinol (5) were accompanied with the reduced expression levels of iNOS and COX-2. These results suggest that the extract of F. velutina and its active compounds could be beneficial for neuroinflammatory diseases including AD.

Keyword

Anti-inflammtory; Forsythia velutina; Lignans; Matairesinol; Secoisolariciresinol; Microglial cells