Effects of Schizandrae Polysaccharide on Inflammatory Reaction of LPS-induced Rat Hepatocytes via Traf3/NF-кB Signaling Pathway

OBJECTIVE To explore the effects of schizandrae polysaccharide(SP) on inflammatory reaction of lipopolysaccharide(LPS)-induced rat hepatocytes, and study the potential mechanism. METHODS Primary rat hepatocytes were cultured in vitro, and hepatocytes were divided into five groups, including control group, LPS-induced group, low dose-, medium dose-, and high dose SP groups. The effect of SP on the proliferation of hepatocytes were investigated using CCK-8 assay. ELISA was used to investigate the influence of SP on the secretory levels of inflammatory cytokine (IL-6 and TNF-α). Western blot was used to assess the impacts of SP on the Traf3/NF-кB signaling pathway. RESULTS SP significantly improved the inhibitory effect of LPS-induced hepatocytes proliferation (P<0.05). Varying concentrations of SP could significantly inhibit the secretion of IL-6 and TNF-α in hepatocytes compared with LPS-induced group (P<0.05). Western blot results showed that the expression levels of Traf3 and NF-кB in all SP groups significantly decreased compared with LPS-induced group(P<0.05). CONCLUSION SP can significantly inhibit the inflammatory reaction of rat hepatocytes and its molecular mechanism may involve in down-regulating the activation of Traf3/NF-кB signaling pathway.