The Effect of Jeongshin-tang on Interleukin-1β and β-Amyloid-Induced Cytokine Production in Human Brain Astrocytes

Abstract

Jeongshin-tang (JST) is a Korean herbal prescription, which has been successfully applied for the various neuronal diseases. However, it's effect remains unknown in experimental models. To investigate the biological effect of JST in Alzheimer's disease (AD) in vitro model, we analized the production of interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8, and expression of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 in IL-1β plus β-amyloid [25-35] fragment (A)-stimulated human astrocytoma cell line U373MG. JST alone had no effect on the cell viability. The production of IL-6 and IL-8 was significantly inhibited by pretreatment with JST (1mg/ml) on IL-1β plus A-stimulated U373MG cells. Maximal inhibition rate of IL-6 and IL-8 production by JST was about 41.22% (P < 0.01) and 34.45% (P < 0.05), respectively. The expression level of COX-2 protein was up-regulated by IL-1β plus A but the increased level of COX-2 was inhibited by pretreatment with JST (1 mg/ml). These data indicate that JST has a regulatory effect on cytokine production and COX-2 expression, which might explain it's beneficial effect in the treatment of AD.