Anti-inflammatory and antiviral effects of Glossogyne tenuifolia

Glossogyne tenuifolia (Hsiang-Ju) is a traditional antipyretic and hepatoprotective herb used in Chinese medicine. The aim of this research is to investigate the pharmacological activities and potent components of the ethanol extract of Glossogyne tenuifolia (GT) in human primary cells and cell line. We found that GT (0.1 ∼ 0.25 mg/ml) exerted dose-dependent inhibitions on the release of TNF-α and IL-6 in LPS-activated human whole blood and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), and IFN-γ in PHA-stimulated human whole blood. The lack of cytotoxicity indicated that the inhibitory effects of GT on cytokine production were not due to cell death. Luteolin, the deglycosylated derivative of one of the major compositions, luteolin-7-glucoside, exerted inhibitory effects on TNF-α, IL-6 and IFN-γ production in activated human whole blood with estimated IC50s of 42.73 μM, 44.86 μM and 3.34 μM, respectively. Furthermore, GT had potent anti-hepatitis B virus (HBV) effects on the human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line, PLC/PRF/5. GT exhibited a dose-dependent inhibition on the release of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) by repressing the expression of HBsAg with IC50 of 0.093 mg/ml. We concluded that GT exerted combinatorial anti-inflammatory and antiviral effects, and the multiple actions may underlie its traditional hepatoprotective function.