SESQUITERPENE LACTONE CONTAINING MEXICAN INDIAN MEDICINAL-PLANTS AND PURE SESQUITERPENE LACTONES AS POTENT INHIBITORS OF TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR NF-KAPPA-B
Pm. Bork et al., SESQUITERPENE LACTONE CONTAINING MEXICAN INDIAN MEDICINAL-PLANTS AND PURE SESQUITERPENE LACTONES AS POTENT INHIBITORS OF TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR NF-KAPPA-B, FEBS letters, 402(1), 1997, pp. 85-90
The potential inhibitory effect of 54 Mexican Indian medicinal plants
on the activation of transcription factor NF-kappa B was studied, Band
-shift experiments identified the ethanolic leaf extracts of Artemisia
ludoviciana ssp. mexicana, Calea zacatechichi, and Polymnia maculata
(all rich in sesquiterpene lactones) as inhibitors of NF-kappa B down
to a concentration of 25 mu g/ml. The sesquiterpene lactones isoheleni
n and parthenolide prevented NF-kappa B activation completely as low a
s 5 mu M. Treatment of HeLa cells with leaf extract of A. ludoviciana
ssp. mexicana, isohelenin and parthenolide prevented the induction of
transcription on the IL-6 promoter, These experiments identify the eud
esmanolide and germacranolide type of sesquiterpene lactones as potent
non-antioxidant inhibitors of NF-kappa B, All plants active in the NF
-kappa B assay also showed a delay in the onset of capillary reactions
of the allantois membrane in a physiological model for anti-inflammat
ory activity - the HET-CAM assay.