Anti-inflammatory activity of gumiganghwaltang through the inhibition of nuclear factor-kappa B activation in peritoneal macrophages.

Gumiganghwaltang (GMGHT) is an Oriental herbal prescription, which has been commonly used to treat a cold and inflammatory diseases in Korea. However, the mechanism of GMGHT is not clear. In this study, we investigated the anti-inflammatory mechanism of GMGHT in mouse peritoneal macrophages. GMGHT exerted an anti-inflammatory action through inhibiting lipopolysaccaride (LPS)-induced tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and interleukin (IL)-6 production in mouse peritoneal macrophages. The maximal inhibition rate of TNF-alpha, and IL-6 production by GMGHT (1 mg/ml) was 52.31+/-2.8% and 56.31+/-3.1%, respectively. In the inflammatory process, cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) increased in peritoneal macrophages. GMGHT decreased the protein level of COX-2 and iNOS in LPS-stimulated mouse peritoneal macrophages. In addition, GMGHT inhibited nuclear factor-kappaB activation and IkappaB-alpha degradation. Our study suggests that an important molecular mechanism by GMKHT reduce inflammation, which might explain its beneficial effect in the regulation of inflammatory reactions.