TY - JOUR T1 - The Herbal Medicine Compound Falcarindiol from Notopterygii Rhizoma Suppresses Dendritic Cell Maturation JF - Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics JO - J Pharmacol Exp Ther SP - 954 LP - 960 DO - 10.1124/jpet.109.162305 VL - 333 IS - 3 AU - Seika Mitsui AU - Kan Torii AU - Hajime Fukui AU - Kunio Tsujimura AU - Akira Maeda AU - Mitsuhiko Nose AU - Akito Nagatsu AU - Hajime Mizukami AU - Akimichi Morita Y1 - 2010/06/01 UR - http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/333/3/954.abstract N2 - Dendritic cells (DCs) are important for regulating the immune response. We report an herbal medicine compound called falcarindiol that affects DC function. Ethanol extracts of 99 crude drugs that are the main components of 210 traditional Japanese medicines (Kampo medicine) approved by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare in Japan were prepared and screened using the murine epidermal-derived Langerhans cell line XS106. Notopterygii Rhizoma strongly suppressed major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II expression in XS106 cells. Activity-guided fractionation led to the isolation and identification of falcarindiol as a principal active compound in Notopterygii Rhizoma. Falcarindiol (1–5 μM) dose-dependently suppressed MHC II expression in XS106 cells. Fresh-isolated bone marrow-derived DCs were examined for the production of MHC II, CD80, CD86, interleukin (IL)-12p70, and IL-10. Treatment of bone marrow-derived DCs with 5 μM falcarindiol significantly inhibited lipopolysaccharide-induced phenotype activation and cytokine secretion and inhibited MHC II expression by CD40 ligation, but not phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate + ionomycin or IL-12. Falcarindiol inhibited DC maturation by blocking the canonical pathway of nuclear factor-κB and phosphorylated p38. Topical application of 0.002 and 0.01% falcarindiol before sensitization dose-dependently suppressed delayed-type hypersensitivity to ovalbumin (p < 0.01). Falcarindiol induces immunosuppressive effects in vitro and in vivo and might be a novel therapy for autoimmune or allergic diseases. Copyright © 2010 by The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics ER -