Anti-inflammatory activity on LPS-stimulated dendritic cells of lupanetype triterpenoids from the leaves of Acanthopanax koreanum.

Acanthopanax koreanum is well known herb in traditional Korean, Chinese, and Japanese anti-inflammatory action without any adverse effects. In the current study, we investigated the inhibitory effects of isolated compounds 1-13 from the leaves of A. koreanum on the lipopolysaccharide-stimulated production of pro-inflammatory cytokines in bone marrow-derived dendritic cells. Of these lupane-type triterpenoids, 1 exhibited particularly high inhibitory effect on lipopolysaccharide-stimulated TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-12 production with the values ranging from 45.0 to 84.5% at a concentration of 50 μM. These results warrant further studies concerning the potential anti-inflammatory benefits of medicinal foods containing the leaves of A. koreanum.