Oxymatrine, a potent monosomic alkaloid extracted from Chinese herb Sophora japonica (Sophora flavescens Ait.). possesses anti-inflammatory activittyes.  This study was designed to investigate the effects of oxymatrine on nuclear factor–kappa B (NF-κB) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)-dependent inflammatory responses in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated microglia. In this paper, BV2...

Nitric oxide generated by endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) plays an important role in maintaining cardiovascular homeostasis. Under various pathological conditions, abnormal expression of eNOS contributes to endothelial dysfunction and the development of cardiovascular diseases. A variety of pathological stimuli has been reported to decrease eNOS expression mainly through decreasing eNO...

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES Several pharmacological properties of red rice extract have been reported including anti-oxidant, anti-tumor, and reduced cancer cell invasion. This study was conducted to evaluate the anti-inflammatory effects of red rice extract on the production of inflammatory mediators in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced Raw 264.7 macrophages. MATERIALS/METHODS Pro-inflammatory cyto...

Neuroinflammation mediated by microglia cells plays a critical role in the development of Alzheimer's disease. To identify novel natural neuroinflammation inhibitors, a bioactivity-guided phytochemical research was performed on the traditional Chinese medicine "Awei", that exhibited a significant inhibitory effect on nitric oxide production in over-activated microglia cells. The research identi...

Overproduction of reactive oxygen species is closely associated with cardiovascular diseases in part by impairing endothelial function and consequently compromising blood flow regulation. Superoxide and hydrogen peroxide are elevated under various disease states with reduced endothelium-derived nitric oxide bioavailability. The oxidative stress elicited by angiotensin II, C-reactive protein and...

Butenolides are a family of lactones containing double bond and have been frequently found in the extracts Streptomyces bacterial species with various pharmacological activities. In this study, seven butenolides (1–7) were discovered isolated from culture broth marine-derived sp. 13G036 based on molecular networking analysis. Among isolates, compound 7 was first as natural product study. The st...