Figure 4
Treatment with the root extracts reduces expression of pro-inflammatory factors and raises PGD2 levels. (a) and (b) represent the averages of two experiments with four mice in each group, (c–e) show the results from a separate experiment with seven mice per group, and (f) shows the results from an experiment with five mice per group. The effect of the root extracts on the leukocyte density in the exudate was nearly identical in both experiments. (a) Pouch membrane IL-6 mRNA. Real-time RT-PCR, normalized to GAPDH, as outlined in the Methods and Materials section. The control group was assigned the relative expression level of 1. The numerical values (± standard error of the mean) were as follows: MSU, 55.47 ± 2.68; and MSU + extracts, 0.56 ± 0.12. (b) Pouch membrane TNF-α mRNA. Analysis was identical to (a): Ctrl, 1; MSU, 20.43 ± 2.91; and MSU + extracts, 0.81 ± 0.09. (c) IL-6 protein levels in the pouch exudate (ELISA, pg/ml): Ctrl, 44.75 ± 1.34; MSU, 391.54 ± 16.77; and MSU + extracts, 217.99 ± 7.26. (d) PGE2 levels in the pouch exudate (ELISA, pg/ml): Ctrl, 150.06 ± 20.84; MSU, 1530.49 ± 205.93; and MSU + extracts, 572.93 ± 72.88. (e) PGD2 levels in the pouch exudate (ELISA, pg/ml): Ctrl, 5.98 ± 0.48; MSU, 11.02 ± 2.49; and MSU + extracts, 37.34 ± 5.77. PGD2:PGE2 ratios were as follows: Ctrl, 0.040; MSU, 0.007; and MSU + extracts, 0.065. (f) Pouch membrane h-PGDS mRNA. Analysis was identical to (a). The numerical values were as follows: Ctrl, 1; MSU, 1.1 ± 0.28; and MSU + extracts, 3.72 ± 0.68. *, p < 0.05 compared with MSU. Ctrl, control; ELISA, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; GAPDH, glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase; h-PGDS, hematopoietic prostaglandin D synthase; IL, interleukin; MSU, monosodium urate; PGD2, prostaglandin D2; PGE2, prostaglandin E2; RT-PCR, reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction; TNF, tumor necrosis factor.