• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.225-230
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• 2011

Indirubin is the active ingredient of Danggui Longhui Wan, a mixture of plants that is used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat chronic diseases. In this study we investigated the anti-inflammatory effects of an indirubin derivative, indirubin-3’-monoxime-5-sulphonic acid (I3M-5S, $C_{16}H_{11}N_3O_5S$). We found that I3M-5S inhibits the production of various inflammatory mediators such as nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin $E_2$ ($PGE_2$) as well as inflammatory cytokines, tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ and interleukin-6 in lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulated murine macrophage, RAW264.7 cells. In addition, the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase and cyclooxygenase-2, which are essential enzymes to produce NO and $PGE_2$, respectively, was blocked by I3M-5S treatment in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. Present data suggest that I3M-5S exhibits potent anti-inflammatory activity in cultured macrophages and merit further study as potential therapeutic agents for inflammatory disorders.