Abstract

BACKGROUND: Research has been carried out to look for safe and effective anti-inflammation drugs from traditional Chinese herbal medicine. As a powerful research technology of life science, molecular biology has entered many areas of traditional Chinese medicine.This study aimed to investigate the effect of triptolide on tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-8 (IL-8) of peritoneal macrophages activated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in mice. METHODS: Peritoneal elicited macrophages were separated, purified and activated by LPS in mice, then cultured in vitro with triptolide at different concentrations. The activity of TNF-α and the level of IL-8 of cellular supernatants were determined by MTT colorimetric assay and ELISA, respectively. RESULTS: The activity of TNF-α in macrophages was significantly inhibited (P<0.01) by triptolide (10-1-101 µg/ml) during 4-24 hours in a time- and dose-dependent manner. The level of IL-8 in macrophages was significantly inhibited (P<0.01) by triptolide (10-1-101 µg/ml) in 12 hours in a dose-dependent manner. CONCLUSION: Triptolide could inhibit the activity of TNF-α and the level of IL-8 in macrophages activated by LPS.

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