Figure 2.

The effect of fulvic acid (FA) on homocysteine-induced COX-2 mRNA expression and PGE ₂ secretion in human monocytes. Human primary monocytes and U937 cells were pre-treated with FA (0–10 μg/mL) for 4 h, and then stimulated with homocysteine (200 μg/mL) for 4 h (A, B) and 8 h (C, D). Monocytes that were not stimulated with homocysteine were used as controls (CL). (A, B) RNA samples were isolated and subjected to real-time PCR analysis. Data are presented as fold changes in fluorescent density from CL monocytes normalized to 18S rRNA level of three individual experiments. (C, D) The PGE₂ secretion in conditioned media was determined by ELISA analyses. Data are shown as mean ± standard error of the mean (SEM) of three individual experiments. *P < 0.05 versus CL monocytes. ^# P < 0.05 versus homocysteine-stimulated cells without pretreatment of FA.