Abstract
Caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE), an active component of propolis from honeybee hives (honeybee resin), has anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic and anti-bacterial properties. This study was designed to investigate the anti-inflammatory effects of CAPE on
Helicobacter pylori
-induced NF-
κ
B and AP-1 in the gastric epithelial cell line AGS.
Electrophoretic mobility shift assay was used to measure NF-
κ
B- and AP-1-DNA binding activity. Western blotting was used to detect I
κ
B-
α
and COX-2 expression in AGS cells cocultured with
H. pylori
. The antiproliferative effect of CAPE was measured by MTT assay.
Our results showed that caffeic phenethyl ester inhibits
H. pylori
-induced NF-
κ
B and AP-1 DNA-binding activity in a dose (0.1–25
μ
g ml
−1
∼0.35–88
μ
M
) and time- (15–240 min) dependent manner in AGS cells. Maximum inhibition by CAPE was observed at concentrations of 25
μ
g ml
−1
(∼88
μ
M
) CAPE prevented
H. pylori
- and cytokine-induced degradation of I
κ
B-
α
protein.
Pretreatment of AGS cells with CAPE also blocked cytokine- and mitogen-induced NF-
κ
B and AP-1 expression. Furthermore, CAPE suppressed
H. pylori
-induced cell proliferation and production of the cytokines TNF-
α
and IL-8. In addition, CAPE blocked
H. pylori
-induced COX-2 expression.
The inhibition of such transcription by CAPE could result in suppression of many genes during
H. pylori
-induced inflammation, and also provide new insights into the anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties of CAPE.