TY - JOUR AB - Houttuynia cordata Thunb (HCT) is widely used in oriental medicine as a remedy for inflammation. However, at present there is no explanation for the mechanism by which HCT affects the production of inflammatory cytokines. The current study aimed to determine the effect of an essence extracted from HCT on mast cell‑mediated inflammatory responses. Inflammatory cytokine production induced by phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) plus a calcium ionophore, A23187, was measured in the human mast cell line, HMC‑1, incubated with various concentrations of HCT. TNF‑α, IL‑6 and IL‑8 secreted protein levels were measured using an ELISA assay. TNF‑α, IL‑6 and IL‑8 mRNA levels were measured using RT‑PCR analysis. Nuclear and cytoplasmic proteins were examined by western blot analysis. The NF‑κB promoter activity was examined by luciferase assay. It was observed that HCT inhibited PMA plus A23187‑induced TNF‑α and IL‑6 secretion and reduced the mRNA levels of TNF‑α, IL‑6 and IL‑8. It was also noted that HCT suppressed the induction of NF‑κB activity, inhibited nuclear translocation of NF‑κB and blocked the phosphorylation of IκBα in stimulated HMC‑1 cells. It was concluded that HCT is an inhibitor of NF‑κB and cytokines blocking mast cell‑mediated inflammatory responses. These results indicate that HCT may be used for the treatment of mast cell‑derived allergic inflammatory diseases. AD - Department of Oriental Medicine, Kyongwon University, Seongnam, Gyeonggi-Do 461‑701, Republic of Korea Laboratory of Clinical Biology and Pharmacogenomics and Center for Clinical Research and Genomics, Institute of Oriental Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130‑701, Republic of Korea AU - Lee,Hee ,Joe AU - Seo,Hye‑Sook AU - Kim,Gyung‑Jun AU - Jeon,Chan ,Yong AU - Park,Jong ,Hyeong AU - Jang,Bo‑Hyoung AU - Park,Sun‑Ju AU - Shin,Yong‑Cheol AU - Ko,Seong‑Gyu DA - 2013/09/01 DO - 10.3892/mmr.2013.1585 EP - 736 IS - 3 JO - Mol Med Rep KW - Houttuynia cordata Thunb allergic inflammation human mast cells NF‑κB pro‑inflammatory cytokine PY - 2013 SN - 1791-2997 1791-3004 SP - 731 ST - Houttuynia cordata Thunb inhibits the production of pro‑inflammatory cytokines through inhibition of the NFκB signaling pathway in HMC‑1 human mast cells T2 - Molecular Medicine Reports TI - Houttuynia cordata Thunb inhibits the production of pro‑inflammatory cytokines through inhibition of the NFκB signaling pathway in HMC‑1 human mast cells UR - https://doi.org/10.3892/mmr.2013.1585 VL - 8 ER -