Differences in anti-inflammatory effects between two specifications of Scutellariae Radix in LPS-induced macrophages in vitro

ScutellariaeRadix(SR),therootofScutellariabaicalensisGeorgi,isusedasanantipyreticdrugandhasbeendemonstratedtohaveanti-inflammatoryactivity.SRisdividedintotwospecifications,'KuQin'(KQ)and'ZiQin'(ZQ),foruseagainstdifferentsymptoms(upperenergizerheatorlowerportionofthetripleenergizer),accordingtothetheoryoftraditionalChinesemedicine(TCM).However,differencesintheefficaciesofthesetwospecificationshavenotbeendetermined.Inthepresentstudy,weaimedtocharacterizethedifferencesintheanti-inflammatoryactivitiesbetweenKQandZQandtoexplorehowtheirdifferencesaremanifestedinlipopolysaccharide(LPS)-inducedmacrophages.Ourresultsshowedthat,inRAW264.7cells(amousemacrophagecelllinederivedfromascites),KQandZQdisplayedanti-inflammatoryeffectsbyinhibitingthereleaseofnitricoxide(NO),inducibleNOS(iNOS),andnuclearfactor-κB(NF-κB)inadose-dependentmannerwithoutdistinction.InNR8383cells(aratalveolarmacrophagecellline),KQandZQdisplayedsimilareffectsonNO,iNOS,andNF-κBasseeninRAW264.7cells,butKQshowedahigherinhibitionrateforNOandiNOSthanthatshownbyZQatthesameconcentration.TheseresultsindicatedthatthereweredifferencesinefficacybetweenKQandZQintreatinglunginflammation.OurfindingsprovidedanexperimentalevidencesupportingthedifferentusesofKQandZQinclinic,asnotedinancientherbalrecords.