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eCAM Advance Access published online on September 14, 2008
eCAM, doi:10.1093/ecam/nen056
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© 2008 The Author(s).
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Hypericum triquetrifolium—Derived Factors Downregulate the Production Levels of LPS-Induced Nitric Oxide and Tumor Necrosis Factor-{alpha} in THP-1 Cells

Bashar Saad1,2,3, Bernadette Soudah AbouAtta1, Walid Basha3, Alaa Hmade1, Abdalsalam Kmail3, Said Khasib3 and Omar Said4

1Research and Development Regional Center—The Galilee Society, PO Box 437, Shefa Amr, 2Qasemi Research Center—Al-Qasemi Academic College, Baga Algharbiya, Israel. 3Faculty of Allied Medical Sciences, Arab American University Jenin, PO Box 240, Jenin, Palestine and 4Antaki Center for Herbal Medicine Ltd, Kufur Kanna, Israel

Based on knowledge from traditional Arab herbal medicine, this in vitro study aims to examine the anti-inflammatory mechanism of Hypericum triquetrifolium by measuring the expression and release of pro-inflammatory cytokines, tumor necrosis factor-{alpha} (TNF-{alpha}) and interleukine-6 (IL-6), and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in human monocytic cells, THP-1. The effects were assessed by measuring the levels of secretory proteins and mRNA of TNF-{alpha} and IL-6, the levels of nitric oxide (NO) secretion and the expression of iNOS in THP-1 cells. Cells were treated with 5 µg lipopolysaccharide/ml (LPS) in the presence and absence of increasing concentrations of extracts from the aerial parts of H. triquetrifolium. During the entire experimental period, we used extract concentrations (up to 250 µg ml–1) that had no cytotoxic effects, as measured with MTT and LDH assays. Hypericum triquetrifolium extracts remarkably suppressed the LPS-induced NO release, significantly attenuated the LPS-induced transcription of iNOS and inhibited in a dose-dependent manner the expression and release of TNF-{alpha}. No significant effects were observed on the release of IL-6. Taken together, these results suggest that H. triquetrifolium probably exerts anti-inflammatory effects through the suppression of TNF-{alpha} and iNOS expressions.

Keywords: anti-inflammatory – Hypericum triquetrifolium – in vitro – medicinal plants

For reprints and all correspondence: Prof. Dr Bashar Saad, Research and Development Regional Center—The Galilee Society, PO Box 437, Shefa Amr 20200, Israel. Tel: +972 4 950 45 23; Fax: +972 4 950 45 25; E-mail: bsaad{at}gal-soc.org

Received March 4, 2008; accepted August 7, 2008


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