Anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive effects of Panax notoginseng

Abstract

Here, we designed to examine the anti-inflammatory effects on RAW264.7 cells and the immunosuppressive effects by evaluating interleukin-2 (IL-2) production in Jurkat T cells using a MeOH extract of Panax notoginseng roots. The results showed that the MeOH extract inhibited the synthesis of nitric oxide (NO) in a dose-dependent manner (IC50 value of 7.08 µg/mL) and displayed effects on T cell activation at a concentration of 400 µg/mL. In efforts to identify the potent compounds, bioactivity-guided fractionation of the MeOH extract and chemical investigation of its active CH2Cl2-, EtOAc-, and butanol-soluble fractions led to the successful isolation and identification of eleven compounds, including two polyacetylenes (1, 2), a steroid saponin (3), seven dammarane-type ginsenosides (4 – 10), and an oleanane-type ginsenoside (11). Among them, compound 11 was isolated from this plant for the first time. Compound 2 exhibited potent inhibitory effects on NO synthesis and an immunosuppressive effect with IC50 values of 2.28 and 65.57 µM, respectively.