Anti-Inflammatory Effect of Neoechinulin A from the Marine Fungus Eurotium sp. SF-5989 through the Suppression of NF-кB and p38 MAPK Pathways in Lipopolysaccharide-Stimulated RAW264.7 Macrophages

Abstract

In the course of a bioassay-guided study of metabolites from the marine fungus <em>Eurotium</em> sp. SF-5989, two diketopiperazine type indole alkaloids, neoechinulins A and B, were isolated. In this study, we investigated the anti-inflammatory effects of neoechinulins A (1) and B (2) on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages. Neoechinulin A (1) markedly suppressed the production of nitric oxide (NO) and OPEN ACCESS Molecules 2013, 18 13246 prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in a dose dependent manner ranging from 12.5 μM to 100 μM without affecting the cell viability. On the other hand, neoechinulin B (2) affected the cell viability at 25 μM although the compound displayed similar inhibitory effect of NO production to neoechinulin A (1) at lower doses. Furthermore, neoechinulin A (1) decreased the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β). We also confirmed that neoechinulin A (1) blocked the activation of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB) in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages by inhibiting the phosphorylation and degradation of inhibitor kappa B (IκB)-α. Moreover, neoechinulin A (1) decreased p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) phosphorylation. Therefore, these data showed that the anti-inflammatory effects of neoechinulin A (1) in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages were due to the inhibition of the NF-κB and p38 MAPK pathways, suggesting that neoechinulin A (1) might be a potential therapeutic agent for the treatment of various inflammatory diseases.