Vanillic acid inhibits inflammatory mediators by suppressing NF-κB in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated mouse peritoneal macrophages

Abstract

Vanillic acid is a benzoic acid derivative that is used as a flavoring agent. It is an oxidized form of vanillin. At present, the mechanisms by which vanillic acid exerts its anti-inflammatory effects are incompletely understood. In this study, we attempted to determine the effects of vanillic acid on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammatory responses in mouse peritoneal macrophages. Our findings indicate that vanillic acid inhibits LPS-induced production of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interleukin (IL)-6. During the inflammatory process, the levels of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 and nitric oxide (NO) increased in mouse peritoneal macrophages, but vanillic acid suppressed both the enhanced levels of COX-2 and the production of prostaglandin E(2) and NO. Moreover, vanillic acid suppressed the activation of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) and caspase-1. These results provide novel insights into the pharmacological actions of vanillic acid and are indicative of the potential use of this molecule in the treatment of inflammatory diseases.

Phytochemistry, Pharmacology and Agronomy of Medicinal Plants: Amburana cearensis, an Interdisciplinary Study

“…This compound exerts its anti-inflammatory effect by suppressing the production of prostaglandin E2, nitric oxide and cytokines. Furthermore, it also suppressed the activation of nuclear-factor-kappa B and caspase (Kim et al, 2011;Itoh et al, 2009). These findings confirm the anti-inflammatory activity of vanillic acid (12) as demonstrated by our laboratory.…”

“…It is an intermediate in the production of vanillin from ferulic acid (Prince et al, 2011;Kim et al, 2011). Previous studies have shown antifilarial, antibacterial, antioxidant, hepatoprotective and anti-inflammatory (Kim et al, 2011;Prince et al, 2011;Itoh et al, 2009) effects of the vanillic acid. This compound exerts its anti-inflammatory effect by suppressing the production of prostaglandin E2, nitric oxide and cytokines.…”

Brewers' spent grain; bioactivity of phenolic component, its role in animal nutrition and potential for incorporation in functional foods: a review

“…Overexpression of COX-2 increases the conversion of arachidonic acid to prostaglandins, which are important mediators of inflammation, and are associated with cancer. Phenolic acids including caffeic acid (47) and vanillic acid (48) , and polyphenols including epigallocatechin-3-gallate (49) and quercetin (50) , have been shown to inhibit the expression of COX-2, possibly reducing cancer risk. Apoptosis in cancer cell lines is also an indicator of anti-carcinogenic potential and can be assessed by a number of methods including DNA fragmentation and the Hoechst staining assay.…”

The chloroform fraction ofCitrus limonleaves inhibits human gastric cancer cell proliferation via induction of apoptosis

“…Trans,trans-farnesol was reported to induce apoptosis in human lung carcinoma cells H460 (Joo et al 2007), farnesol to inhibit colon carcinogenesis in rats (Rao et al 2002), palmitic acid to show anticancer effect on human leukemic cells (Harada et al 2002). Moreover, (−)-loliolide was reported to have antioxidant activity and a protective effect on a monkey kidney fibroblast cell line (Yang et al 2011) and vanillic acid was reported to have antioxidant (Chou et al 2010) and antiinflammatory effects (Kim et al 2011). These data puts spotlight on the synergistic and additive effect of natural compounds in cancer therapy.…”