Luteolin inhibits mast cell-mediated allergic inflammation.

Mast cells are ubiquitous in the body and multifunctional immune cells; they are known to be primary responders in allergic reactions, orchestrating strong responses to minute amounts of allergens. Mature mast cells perform important beneficial roles in host defense, both in IgE-dependent immune responses to certain parasites and in natural immunity to bacterial infection. In IgE-associated biological responses, the crosslinking of FcεRI-bound IgE with multivalent antigens initiate the activation of mast cells by promoting aggregation of FceRI. This cross-linking receptor-bound IgE by multivalent Ag initiates a cascade of intracellular reactions leading to mediator release such as proinflammatory mediators, chemokines and cytokines. Luteolin belongs to a flavone group of compounds called flavonoids, it has anti-oxidant properties, inhibits some cancer cell proliferation and exerts a regulatory effect on mast cell-mediated inflammatory diseases and allergy. Here we report the impact of luteolin on mast cell activation.