Anti-inflammatory effects of YeongyoSeungma-tang

Ethnopharmacological relevanceYeongyoSeungma-tang which includes Fructus Forsythia, has been used in oriental traditional medicine for treatment of early smallpox and atopic dermatitis.Aim of the studyYeongyoSeungma-tang was carried out to investigate for anti-inflammatory effects.Materials and methodsYeongyoSeungma-tang was tested for anti-inflammatory effects against lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nitric oxide (NO), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) releases as well as nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) expression using RAW264.7 macrophage cells.ResultsYeongyoSeungma-tang significantly inhibited generation of NO (42% and 59% inhibition at doses of 5 μg/mL and 10 μg/mL, respectively), PGE2 (46% and 80% inhibition at doses of 5 μg/mL and 10 μg/mL, respectively) and TNF-α (6% and 23% inhibition at doses of 5 μg/mL and 10 μg/mL, respectively) on LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells in a concentration-dependent manner. Consistently in these observations, the expression of inducible NO synthase (iNOS) enzyme was also inhibited by YeongyoSeungma-tang. However, YeongyoSeungma-tang did not show any influence on the expression of cyclooxygenase-2. The cream containing 0.075% YeongyoSeungma-tang showed good skin moisturizing effect without any irritation.ConclusionThe present study may support the fact that YeongyoSeungma-tang can have the good possibility as an anti-inflammatory agent for troubled skins.