Floridoside suppresses pro-inflammatory responses by blocking MAPK signaling in activated microglia

Inflammatory conditions mediated by activated microglia leadto chronic neuro-degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s,Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s diseases. This study wasconducted to determine the effect of floridoside isolated frommarine red algae Laurencia undulata on LPS (100 ng/ml)activated inflammatory responses in BV-2 microglia cells. Theresults show that floridoside has the ability to suppresspro-inflammatory responses in microglia by markedly inhibitingthe production of nitric oxide (NO) and reactive oxygen species(ROS). Moreover, floridoside down-regulated the protein andgene expression levels of iNOS and COX-2 by significantlyblocking the phosphorylation of p38 and ERK in BV-2 cells.Collectively, these results indicate that floridoside has thepotential to be developed as an active agent for the treatmentof neuro-inflammation. [BMB Reports 2013; 46(8): 398-403]