Sodium butyrate suppresses interferon-gamma-, but not lipopolysaccharide-mediated induction of nitric oxide and tumor necrosis factor-alpha in microglia

In the present study, we demonstrate that sodium butyrate repressed IFN-gamma-induced expression of NOS and TNF-alpha, but had little effect on LPS-induced expression in BV2 murine microglial cells. Sodium butyrate significantly inhibited NF-kappaB binding and NF-kappaB-mediated transcription induced by IFN-gamma, suggesting that the anti-inflammatory effect of sodium butyrate is mediated via specific inhibition of the NF-kappaB pathway. IFN-gamma is a major stimulator of innate and adaptive immune response. Thus, the specific down-regulation of IFN-gamma-induced microglial activation by sodium butyrate may provide potential therapeutic strategies for a variety of inflammatory diseases in the central nervous system. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.