Abstract
We investigated the effects of Rubus suavissimus (chinese name: Ten-Cha) extract on the inflammatory reactions including ear dermatitis induced by croton oil and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) production in ICR mice. When Ten-Cha extract (200 mg/kg/day) was administered po for five consecutive days, the ear edema and capillary permeability induced by croton oil were markedly suppressed by 51.8 and 76.5%, respectively. Furthermore, single p. o. administration of Ten-Cha extract, also showed a tendency to reduced these parameters of edema, ear weight and capillary permeability.
In vitro TNF production of the peritoneal macrophages obtained from ICR mice that had been treated with both Ten-Cha extract (200 mg/kg/day, p.o., 5 days) and proteose-pepton (i.p.) was significantly reduced when compared with that obtained from the animals treated with only proteose-pepton. In contrast, the TNF production of the alveolus macrophages obtained from the mice that had been treated with the Ten-Cha extract at the same conditions was not different from that obtained from untreated animals. These results indicate that Ten-Cha extract exerts anti-inflammatory effects and improvement of capillary permeability, suggesting that the effects may be, at least, partially explained by the reduction of endogenous cytokine production induced by Ten-Cha extract.
