Abstract
Cytokines generated from macrophages contribute to pathogenesis of inflammation-associated diseases. Here we show that γ-tocotrienol (γ-TE), a natural vitamin E form, inhibits lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced interleukin (IL)-6 production without affecting tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), IL-10 or cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) up-regulation in murine RAW264.7 macrophages. Mechanistic studies indicate that nuclear factor κB (NF-κB), but not c-Jun NH(2)-terminal protein kinase, p38 or extracellular signal-regulated kinase mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), is important to IL-6 production and that γ-TE treatment blocks NF-κB activation. In contrast, COX-2 appears to be regulated by p38 MAPK in RAW cells, but γ-TE has no effect on LPS-stimulated p38 phosphorylation. Despite necessary for IL-6, NF-κB activation by TNF-α or other cytokines is not sufficient for IL-6 induction with exception of LPS. CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein (C/EBP) β appears to be involved in IL-6 formation because LPS induces C/EBPβ up-regulation, which parallels IL-6 production, and knockdown of C/EBPβ with small interfering RNA results in diminished IL-6. LPS but not individual cytokines is capable of stimulating C/EBPβ and IL-6 in macrophages. Consistent with its dampening effect on IL-6, γ-TE blunts LPS-induced up-regulation of C/EBPβ without affecting C/EBPδ. γ-TE also decreases LPS-stimulated granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), a C/EBPβ target gene. Compared with RAW264.7 cells, γ-TE shows similar or stronger inhibitory effects on LPS-triggered activation of NF-κB, C/EPBβ and C/EBPδ and more potently suppresses IL-6 and G-CSF in bone marrow-derived macrophages. Our study demonstrates that γ-TE has antiinflammatory activities by inhibition of NF-κB and C/EBPs activation in macrophages.