Extracts of dietary plants are efficient modulators of nuclear factor kappa B

Convincing evidence suggest that a plant-based diet is associated with a reduced risk of several chronic diseases, but the mechanisms for this association is not fully elucidated. The transcription factor nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) plays a critical role in cellular stress-, immune- and inflammatory responses. Also, NF-κB is identified as a promising therapeutic target both in cancer and chronic inflammation. We used monocytes stably transfected with a NF-κB-luciferase reporter construct in a screening of plant extracts for NF-κB modulators. Our aim was to identify dietary components which could induce basal NF-κB activity to produce a preconditioning effect, or inhibit induction of disease related NF-κB activity. When screening 34 dietary plants for their ability to induce basal NF-κB activity or inhibit lipopolysaccharide induced NF-κB activity we observed that 23 dietary plant extracts induced basal NF-κB activity, while 15 extracts attenuate induced NF-κB activation. These results indicate that dietary plants contain compounds that efficiently modulate NF-κB activity. We suggest dietary modulation of NF-κB may contribute to the observed beneficial effects of dietary plants on the risk of chronic diseases.