Affiliations: Department of Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Research
Center for Proteineous Materials, Chosun University, Kwangju, South Korea | Department of Pathology, College of Oriental Medicine,
Daejeon University, Daejeon, South Korea
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Department of Pharmacy, Chosun
University, 375 Seosuk-dong, Kwangju 501-759, South Korea. Tel.: +82 62 230
6639; Fax: +82 62 230 6639; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: Previous studies reported that kahweol, a coffee-specific diterpene,
inhibits cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS)
expression in cultured lipopolysaccharide-activated macrophages. The aim of
this study was to confirm the anti-inflammatory effects of kahweol by examining
its effect on the inflammatory response induced by carrageenan in a rat using
an acute air pouch inflammation model. Kahweol significantly reduced the levels
of the inflammatory process markers in the air pouch, such as the volume of
exudates, the amount of protein and the number of leukocytes and neutrophils.
The levels of nitrite, TNF-α and prostaglandin
E_2 (PGE_2) were also markedly lower in
the air pouch of the kahweol-treated animals than in the controls. Immunoblot
analysis showed that kahweol reduced the COX-2 and iNOS expression level in the
exudate cells. The histological examination showed that there was a lower
inflammatory response in the pouch tissues from the kahweol-treated animals. In
addition, kahweol significantly reduced the paw edema induced by carrageenan
and also markedly reduced the level of PGE_2 production in
the inflamed paw. These results suggest that kahweol has significant
anti-inflammatory effects in vivo, which might be due to the inhibition
of iNOS and COX-2 expression in the inflammatory sites.
Keywords: Kahweol, anti-inflammation, air pouch, paw edema, carrageenan
Journal: BioFactors, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 17-28, 2006
