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Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Smilax china L. has been used clinically to treat various inflammatory disorders with a long history., Aim of the Study: To investigate the mechanisms underlying anti-inflammatory action of the extract from the herb., Materials and Methods: The extract was identified and quantified using the Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography-Photo Diode Array-Mass Spectrometer method. The anti-inflammatory activities were examined in xylene-induced mouse ear edema and cotton ball-induced rat granuloma. The inflammatory mediators, pro-inflammatory cytokines and TLR-4-mediated signals in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages were determined using ELISA, real-time PCR, Western blot and/or immunofluorescence, respectively., Results: The extract was found to enrich flavonoids (44.3%, mainly astilbin, engeletin, isoastilbin, cinchonain Ia, quercetin-3-O-a-L-rhamnopyranoside and chlorogenic acid). The flavonoid-enriched extract (FEE) inhibited xylene-induced mouse ear edema and cotton ball-induced rat granuloma, and suppressed LPS-induced over-release and/or overexpression of tumor necrosis factor-α, cyclooxygenase-2, inducible nitric oxide synthase, interleukin-1β and interleukin-6 in RAW264.7 macrophages. Mechanistically, FEE suppressed protein overexpression of TLR-4 and its downstream signals, MyD88 protein, phosphorylated inhibitory κB-α, NF-κB-P65 and MAPK p38, as well as phosphorylation of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) p85α at Tyr 607 and Akt at Ser 473 in LPS-stimulated macrophages. The mode of the anti-inflammatory action of FEE was similar to that of TAK-242 (a selective TLR-4 inhibitor)., Conclusions: The present results demonstrate that FEE inhibit inflammatory responses via the TLR-4-mediated signaling pathway. Our findings go a new insight into the mechanisms underlying anti-inflammatory action of the herb, and provide a better understanding of its use for inflammatory diseases., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), an infection and inflammation disorder of the upper genital tract, results in infertility in approximately 20% of cases. No antibiotic that can alleviate the sequelae of PID has been identified . Smilax china L. rhizome (SCR), which are widely used in functional food and folk medicine, exhibit multiple pharmacological activities, such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antitumour activities. In this study, the flavonoids of SCR (FSCR) were purified and analysed by UPLC-PDA-MS. The therapeutic effects of FSCR in a rat PID model were evaluated. FSCR-treated PID rats exhibited significantly decreased inflammation, ameliorated fibrosis, and enhanced production of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and MMP-9 in uteri. Moreover, the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and Smad2/3 was markedly inhibited by FSCR. These results indicate that FSCR exhibits robust anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrosis effects, possibly via inhibition of the ERK1/2 and TGF-β-Smad2/3 signalling pathways, and may be an effective candidate natural medicine for PID treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flavonoids are the main chemical constituents ofSmilax chinaL. and thought to be responsible for the anti-inflammatory activity ofSmilax chinaL. In this study, a suitable HSCCC method was developed to separate the three main flavonoids in a one-separation from the anti-chronic pelvic inflammation disease (CPID) effective fraction ofSmilax chinaL. with a two-phase solvent system composed of n-hexane-ethyl acetate-methanol-water (1:10:1:10, v/v/v/v). 42 milligrams of astilbin, 10 mg neoisoastilbin, and 6 mg quercetin-3-O-α-L-rhamnoside were separated from 200 mg of the anti-CPID effective fraction ofSmilax chinaL. with purity of 98.3%, 98.7%, 98.5%, respectively, by HPLC analysis. Orthogonal test L9(34) was also applied to investigate the optimum extracting conditions of the three flavonoids. HSCCC was successfully used for the isolation and purification of the three flavonoids from the anti-CPID effective fraction ofSmilax chinaL. and the neoisoastilbin was first separated fromSmilax chinaL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]