• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.34 no.3 s.134
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• pp.228-232
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• 2003

For effective management of atopic dermatitis, it is important to introduce a therapeutic agent although having the fewest side effects, has the greatest anti- inflammatory effect. In the course of screening anti-inflammatory agents, we obtained BSASM composed of several plant extracts. This study was designed to investigate anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects of BSASM. As a first step, $NF-{\kappa}B$ luciferase reporter assay was performed to know the involvement of BSASM in the production of proinflammatory cytokines because $NF-{\kappa}B$ element has been known to play a major role in expression of cytokine genes such as interleukin-8 (IL-8) or tumor necrosis $factor-{\alpha}\;(TNF-{\alpha})$. LPS (lipolysaccharide)-induced $NF-{\kappa}B$ activation was inhibited by BSASM. In addition, we found the fact that BSASM inhibits LPS-induced produced production of IL-8 and $TNF-{\alpha}$ proinflammatory cytokines, indicating BSASM has anti-inflammatory effect. In interleukin-2 (IL-2) luciferase reporter assay in Jurkat T cells, BSASM reduced PHA (Phytohemagglutinin)-induced IL-2 luciferase activity, suggesting the possibility that BSASM might also have an immunomodulatory function in T cell-mediated immune response. Based on these results, we suggest the possibility that BSASM can be introduced to improve symptom of immune-related skin diseases, namely, atopic dermatitis.