Fructus Ligustrum lucidi inhibits inflammatory mediator release through inhibition of nuclear factor-kappaB in mouse peritoneal macrophages.

Fructus Ligustrum lucidi (FLL) is a widely used herbal medicine for the treatment of a variety of pathologies. We have investigated the anti-inflammatory mechanism of FLL in mouse peritoneal macrophages. FLL exerted an anti-inflammatory action through inhibition of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha production in mouse peritoneal macrophages. The maximal inhibition rate of TNF-alpha production by FLL (0.5 mg mL(-1)) was 60.88 +/- 0.30%. In the inflammatory process, nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) increased in peritoneal macrophages. FLL decreased the protein level of NO and PGE(2) in LPS-stimulated mouse peritoneal macrophages. In addition, FLL inhibited nuclear factor-kappaB activation and IkappaB-alpha degradation by the decrease in IkappaB-alpha phosphorylation. Our study suggested that FLL reduced inflammation via an important molecular mechanism, which might explain its beneficial effect in the regulation of inflammatory reactions.