WIN-34B, a new herbal medicine, inhibits the inflammatory response by inactivating IκB-α phosphorylation and mitogen activated protein kinase pathways in fibroblast-like synoviocytes.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: The dried flowers of Lonicera japonica Thunb and dried roots of Anemarrhena asphodeloides BUNGE have been used for the treatment of a variety of inflammatory diseases in traditional Korean medicine.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study is to evaluate the anti-inflammatory effects of WIN-34B, a new herbal medicine, in fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) obtained from patients with osteoarthritis (OA).

MATERIALS AND METHODS: WIN-34B is isolated from the n-butanol fraction of dried flowers of L. japonica and dried roots of A. asphodeloides. The anti-inflammatory effects of WIN-34B on cell viability, the production and release of inflammatory mediators, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), aggrecanases, tissue inhibitor of matrix proteinases (TIMP) is compared with celecoxib in IL-1β-stimulated human OA FLS. Furthermore, the effect of WIN-34B on inhibitory kappa B-α (IκB-α) phosphorylation and mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) in the IL-1β-stimulated OA FLS was also evaluated.

RESULTS: WIN-34B significantly inhibited the IL-1β-induced cell viability in human OA FLS without cytotoxicity. Compared to celecoxib, WIN-34B exhibited similar or better anti-inflammatory effects through significant suppression of inflammatory mediators (IL-1β, TNF-α, PGE2 and NO), MMPs (MMP-1, MMP-3 and MMP-13) and aggrecanases (ADAMTS-4 and ADAMTS-5), and enhancement of TIMPs (TIMP-1 and TIMP-3). Moreover, WIN-34B reduced the phosphorylation of IκB-α, ERK1/2, p38 and JNK1/2 in IL-1β-stimulated OA FLS.

CONCLUSIONS: WIN-34B exhibited similar or better anti-inflammatory properties in IL-1β-stimulated OA FLS compared to celecoxib. The anti-inflammatory effects of WIN-34B are due to inhibition of inflammatory mediators (IL-1β, TNF-α, PGE2 and NO) and regulation of MMPs, ADAMTSs and TIMPs via the inhibition of IκB-α and MAPK phosphorylation in IL-1β-stimulated OA FLS.