Fig. 4.

Anti-inflammatory effects of Stronger Neo-Minophagen C (SNMC) in activated microglia. (A, B) Nitrite production was used as a surrogate of NO. BV2 cells (1×10⁵ cells/well) were pre-treated with SNMC at the doses generating 50, 100, 250, 500, or 1,000 µM of glycyrrhizin final concentration in culture media for 1 h and then treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) for 24 h (A). BV2 cells (1×10⁵ cells/well) were treated with SNMC at the doses mentioned above in (A) along with 200 ng/ml of LPS for 24 h (B). Changes in nitrite levels are presented as means±SEMs (n=4). ^*P<0.01. To compare the anti-inflammatory potency, 500 or 1,000 µM of pure glycyrrhizin was pretreated or co-treated with LPS and nitrite production was measured (A, B). (C) Proinflammatory cytokine production was determined by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction 24 h after treating LPS (200 ng/ml) in the presence or absence of SNMC (generating final concentration of 250 or 500 µM glycyrrhizin in culture media) or of 500 µM of pure glycyrrhizin. iNOS, inducible NO syntase; COX-2, cyclooxygenase 2; GAPDH, glyceraldehydes 3-phosphate dehydrogenase.