Neuroprotective activity of (-)-epigallocatechin gallate against lipopolysaccharide-mediated cytotoxicity

Lipopolysaccharide-(lps-) mediated systemic inflammation plays a critical role in neurodegenerative diseases. the present study was conducted to evaluate the protective effects of epigallocatechin gallate (egcg),the major component in green tea,on lps-mediated inflammation and neurotoxicity. lps treatment of macrophages induced expression of proinflammatory cytokines (tnf-α,il-1β,and il-6). however,egcg pretreatment of macrophages significantly inhibited lps-mediated induction of these cytokines. in addition,egcg significantly diminished lps-induced inflammatory cytokines in the peripheral mononuclear blood cells (pbmcs). supernatant from egcg-pretreated and lps-activated macrophage cultures was found to be less cytotoxic to neurons than that from non-egcg-pretreated and lps-activated macrophage cultures. furthermore,egcg treatment of neurons could inhibit lps-induced production of reactive oxygen species (ros). thus egcg represents a potent and useful neuroprotective agent for inflammation-mediated neurological disorders. © 2016 jin-biao liu et al.