[β-Caryophyllene downregualtes inflammatory cytokine expression and alleviates systemic inflammation in mice by inhibiting the NF-κB signaling pathway].

Objective To investigate the anti-inflammatory mechanism of β-caryophyllene (BCP) on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced systemic inflammation in mice. Methods C57BL mice were divided into control group, LPS-treated group, dexamethasone-treated group, and BCP-treated group. Twelve hours after the establishment of the whole body inflammation model by intraperitoneal injection of LPS, the serum levels of interleukin 1β(IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), and IL-6 were measured by ELISA. The protein levels of nuclear factor κB p65(NF-κB p65), myeloid differentiation primary response 88 (MyD88), and Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) in spleen tissue were assessed by Western blot analysis. ResultsCompared with the control group, the serum levels of the inflammatory cytokines IL-1β, TNF-α and IL-6 in the LPS-treated group were significantly increased. In addition, the pro-tein levels of NF-κB p65, MyD88 and TLR4 were increased in spleen tissues. Compared with the LPS-treated group, the protein levels of IL-1β, TNF-α and IL-6 in the BCP-treated group were decreased significantly. Furthermore, the protein levels of NF-κB p65, MyD88 and TLR4 in spleen tissue showed a remarkable reduction. The inhibitory effect was notably better in the 3.5 μg/(L.d) BCP-treated group than in the 3 μg/(L.d) BCP-treated group. Conclusion BCP exerts anti-inflammatory effects by downregulating inflammatory cytokine expression through the inhibition of the NF-κB signaling pathway.