Inhibitory Effects of Traditional Herbal Formula Pyungwi-San on Inflammatory Response In Vitro and In Vivo

Pyungwi-san (PWS) is a traditional basic herbal formula. We investigated the effects of PWS on induction of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), pro-inflammatory cytokines (interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha)) and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappa B) as well as mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) in lipopolysaccharide-(LPS-) induced Raw 264.7 cells and on paw edema in rats. Treatment with PWS (0.5, 0.75, and 1mg/mL) resulted in inhibited levels of expression of LPS-induced COX-2, iNOS, NF-kappa B, and MAPKs as well as production of prostaglandin E 2 (PGE 2), nitric oxide (NO), IL-6, and TNF-.. induced by LPS. Our results demonstrate that PWS possesses anti-inflammatory activities via decreasing production of pro-inflammatory mediators through suppression of the signaling pathways of NF-kappa B and MAPKs in LPS-induced macrophage cells. More importantly, results of the carrageenan-(CA-) induced paw edema demonstrate an anti-edema effect of PWS. In addition, it is considered that PWS also inhibits the acute edematous inflammations through suppression of mast cell degranulations and inflammatory mediators, including COX-2, iNOS and TNF-alpha. Thus, our findings may provide scientific evidence to explain the anti-inflammatory properties of PWS in vitro and in vivo.