Abstract: Objective To investigate the alleviating effect and mechanism of ursolic acid against LPS-induced damage in THP-1 cells. Methods After THP-1 cells were exposed to 10 μg/L LPS for 20 h, ursolic acid of different concentrations were added. Cell proliferation was tested by MTT, the expressions of TLR4、MCP-1 and IL-6 mRNA were detected by RT–PCR, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) was applied to detect the production of monocyte chemoattractant protein1 (MCP-1) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), P65 and Phosphorylation-P65 were detected on protein level using Western blot, at last, the nuclear transcription factor kappa B (NF-kappa B) activity was detected by luciferase report system. Results Compared with control group, LPS group can significantly increase MCP-1, TLR4, IL-6 mRNA and MCP-1, IL-6, P65, Phosphorylation-P65 proteins expression and enhance the NF-κB activity. Compared with LPS group, ursolic acid (1, 5 μmol/L) intervention groups can significantly reduce MCP-1, TLR4, IL-6 mRNA expression and MCP-1, IL-6 proteins expression and weaken the NF-κB activity. Conclusion Ursolic acid could alleviate the LPS-induced damage of THP-1 cells by reducing the NF-κB activity.

Key words: ursolic acid, THP-1, TLR4, MCP-1, IL-6, NF-κB