Comparison of the Anti-inflammatory Effects of the Extracts from Rubus coreanm and Rubus occidentalis

摘要

The dried fruit of the Rubus coreanm, which is well-known in Korea and referred to as "Bokbunja," has been employed as a traditional medicine for centuries. This crude drug has been utilized in Korea for the management of impotence, spermatorrhea, enuresis, asthma, and allergic diseases. Our previous study demonstrated that the ethanol extracts of R. coreanus have anti-inflammatory effects. The principal objective of the present study was to conduct a comparison of the anti-inflammatory effects of the ethanol extracts of R. coreanus and R. occidentalis; here, we tested the unripe (URGE), half-ripened (HRCE), and ripened fruits (RCE) of R. coreanus, and the unripe (URGE), half-ripened (HROE), and ripened fruits (ROE) of R. occidentalis. We found thatURGE, UROE, HRCE, and HROE reduced the production of nitric oxide and prostaglandin E_2 as well as pro-inflammatory cytokines in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW264.7 murine macrophages. Interestingly, the R. coreanus extracts showed stronger inhibitory effects on the production of these inflammatory mediators than the R. occidentalis extracts.