Inflammatory Immune Response in RAW 264.7 Macrophages through the Inhibition of

Our previous studies had reported that morin, a bioflavanoid exhibited potent anti-inflam-matory effect against adjuvant-induced arthritic rats. In this current study, we investigated the anti-inflammatory mechanism of morin against monosodium urate crystal (MSU)-induced inflammation in RAW 264.7 macrophage cells, an in vitromodel for acute gouty arthritis. For comparison purpose, colchicine was used as a reference drug. We have observed that morin (100–300 μM) treatment significantly suppressed the levels of inflam-matory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, MCP-1 and VEGF), inflammatory mediators (NO and PEG2), and lysosomal enzymes (acid phosphatase, β-galactosidase, N-acetyl gluco-samindase and cathepsin D) in MSU-crystals stimulated macrophage cells. The mRNA expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, and MCP-1), inflammatory enzymes (iNOS and COX-2), and NF-κBp65 was found downregulated in MSU crystal stimulated macrophage cells by morin treatment, however, the mRNA expression of hypo-xanthine phospho ribosyl transferse (HPRT) was found to be increased. The flow cytome-try analysis revealed that morin treatment decreased intracellular reactive oxygen specie