antidesma thwaitesianum müll. arg. fruit extract rich in 5-hydroxymethylfurfural exhibits anti-inflammatory effects in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated raw264.7 macrophages

Introduction: antidesma thwaitesianum müll. arg is a tropical fruit, which has been commonly used for healthy food and traditional herbal medicine. this study aimed to investigate the anti-inflammatory effects of a. thwaitesianum fruit extract (afe) rich in 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-hmf) in lipopolysaccharide (lps)-stimulated raw264.7 macrophages. methods: the chemical composition of afe was analysed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (gc/ms). raw264.7 cells were used as an in vitro inflammatory response model. raw264.7 cells were pre-treated with various concentrations of afe or 5-hmf and subsequently treated with lps. cell viability was assessed by the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (mtt) assay. the production levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and mediators, including nitric oxide (no), interleukin (il)-1β, and tumour necrosis factor (tnf)-α were determined by the griess assay and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. the protein expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (inos) was examined by western blot analysis. results: afe had a high content of 5-hmf (61.03% ± 0.49%). pre-treatment with afe and 5-hmf markedly reduced lps-induced pro-inflammatory mediators and cytokines, namely no, il-1β, and tnf-α, in raw264.7 cells; this reduction correlated with downregulation of inos expression. conclusion: this study suggests that a. thwaitesianum fruit extract containing 5-hmf could modulate the lps-induced inflammatory response by inhibiting no, il-1β, and tnf-α production and inos expression. a. thwaitesianum fruit extract rich in 5-hmf could be considered a potential therapeutic agent for the prevention of inflammation.