Planta Medica · 1991 · 151 citations · 0 references
Life SciencesImmunologyPharmacologyInflammationInnate ImmunityRedox BiochemistryAnti-inflammatory PharmacologyAntioxidant DefenseNeutrophil BiologyOxidative StressPhagocyte BiologyReactive Oxygen SpeciesAntioxidant PharmacologyCellular ChemotaxisChemotaxisNeutrophil Effector FunctionsNeutrophil PhysiologyOxidative Stress DefenseReactive Oxygen Species GenerationRedox Regulation Of Inflammation
The effect of glycyrrhizin on inflammatory mediators such as neutrophil functions including reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation was examined. Glycyrrhizin significantly decreased neutrophil-generated O2-, H2O2 and OH in a dose-dependent manner. However, the drug did not reduce any of the ROS generated in a cell-free, xanthine-xanthine oxidase system. The drug did not affect neutrophil chemotaxis or phagocytosis, either. The present study indicates that glycyrrhizin is not an ROS scavenger but exerts an anti-inflammatory action by inhibiting the generation of ROS by neutrophils, the most potent inflammatory mediator at the site of inflammation.