Anti-inflammatory effect of coumarins isolated from Corydalis heterocarpa in HT-29 human colon carcinoma cells.

We investigated anti-inflammatory effects of two coumarins, columbianetin (A) and libanoridin (B), isolated from Corydalis heterocarpa in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated HT-29 human colon carcinoma cells. Treatment with compound B inhibited the protein expression levels of inflammatory mediators such as inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), and interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) in a dose-dependent manner in LPS-stimulated HT-29 cells, but compound A did not. Also, compound B had a higher inhibitory effect on production of cytokines such as IL-1 beta and TNF-alpha in LPS-stimulated HT-29 human colon carcinoma cells than those of compound A. Furthermore, we confirmed that LPS-induced transcription activity of NF-kappaB was inhibited by compound B. As a result of this study, compound B can be considered as a potential anti-inflammatory agent.