Tomatidine inhibits iNOS and COX-2 through suppression of NF-κB and JNK pathways in LPS-stimulated mouse macrophages

We use the LPS-stimulated macrophage as a model of inflammation to investigate the anti-inflammatory effects of tomatidine and solasodine, whose structures resemble glucocorticoids. We found that tomatidine exhibited a more potent anti-inflammatory effect than solasodine. Tomatidine could decrease inducible nitric oxide synthase and cyclooxygenase-2 expression through suppression of I-kappa B alpha phosphorylation, NF-kappa B nuclear translocation and JNK activation, which in turn inhibits c-jun phosphorylation and Oct-2 expression. Here, we demonstrate that tomatidine acts as an anti-inflammatory agent by blocking NF-kappa B and JNK signaling, and may possibly be developed as a useful agent for the chemoprevention of cancer or in. ammatory diseases. (C) 2008 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.