Inhibition of nitric oxide in LPS-stimulated macrophages of young and senescent mice by δ-tocotrienol and quercetin

BACKGROUND: Changes in immune function believed to contribute to a variety of age-related diseases have been associated with increased production of nitric oxide (NO). We have recently reported that proteasome inhibitors (dexamethasone, mevinolin, quercetin, δ-tocotrienol, and riboflavin) can inhibit lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced NO production in vitro by RAW 264.7 cells and by thioglycolate-elicited peritoneal macrophages derived from four strains of mice (C57BL/6, BALB/c, LMP7/MECL-1(-/- )and PPAR-α(-/- )knockout mice). The present study was carried out in order to further explore the potential effects of diet supplementation with naturally-occurring inhibitors (δ-tocotrienol and quercetin) on LPS-stimulated production of NO, TNF-α, and other pro-inflammatory cytokines involved in the ageing process. Young (4-week-old) and senescent mice (42-week old) were fed control diet with or without quercetin (100 ppm), δ-tocotrienol (100 ppm), or dexamethasone (10 ppm; included as positive control for suppression of inflammation) for 4 weeks. At the end of feeding period, thioglycolate-elicited peritoneal macrophages were collected, stimulated with LPS, LPS plus interferon-β (IFN-β), or LPS plus interferon-γ (IFN-γ), and inflammatory responses assessed as measured by production of NO and TNF-α, mRNA reduction for TNF-α, and iNOS genes, and microarray analysis. RESULTS: Thioglycolate-elicited peritoneal macrophages prepared after four weeks of feeding, and then challenged with LPS (10 ng or 100 ng) resulted in increases of 55% and 73%, respectively in the production of NO of 46-week-old compared to 8-week-old mice fed control diet alone (respective control groups), without affecting the secretion of TNF-α among these two groups. However, macrophages obtained after feeding with quercetin, δ-tocotrienol, and dexamethasone significantly inhibited (30% to 60%; P < 0.02) the LPS-stimulated NO production, compared to respective control groups. There was a 2-fold increase in the production of NO, when LPS-stimulated macrophages of quercetin, δ-tocotrienol, or dexamethasone were also treated with IFN-β or IFN-γ compared to respective control groups. We also demonstrated that NO levels and iNOS mRNA expression levels were significantly higher in LPS-stimulated macrophages from senescent (0.69 vs 0.41; P < 0.05), compared to young mice. In contrast, age did not appear to impact levels of TNF-α protein or mRNA expression levels (0.38 vs 0.35) in LPS-stimulated macrophages. The histological analyses of livers of control groups showed lesions of peliosis and microvesicular steatosis, and treated groups showed Councilman body, and small or large lymphoplasmacytic clusters. CONCLUSIONS: The present results demonstrated that quercetin and δ-tocotrienols inhibit the LPS-induced NO production in vivo. The microarray DNA analyses, followed by pathway analyses indicated that quercetin or δ-tocotrienol inhibit several LPS-induced expression of several ageing and pro-inflammatory genes (IL-1β, IL-1α, IL-6, TNF-α, IL-12, iNOS, VCAM1, ICAM1, COX2, IL-1RA, TRAF1 and CD40). The NF-κB pathway regulates the production of NO and inhibits the pro-inflammatory cytokines involved in normal and ageing process. These ex vivo results confirmed the earlier in vitro findings. The present findings of inhibition of NO production by quercetin and δ-tocotrienol may be of clinical significance treating several inflammatory diseases, including ageing process.