Anti-inflammatory activities and glycerophospholipids metabolism in KLA-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophage cells by diarylheptanoids from the rhizomes of Alpinia officinarum

Alpinia officinarum is used for its anti-inflammatory activity historically in China. Diarylheptanoids isolated from A. officinarum play important biological roles in the prevention and treatment of inflammatory disorders. Seven diarylheptanoids (1–7) were isolated from A. officinarum . The cell viabilities and anti-inflammatory activities of diarylheptanoids were evaluated by MTT assay and tumor necrosis factor- α production in Kdo2-lipid A-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells in vitro . The relationships between their anti-inflammatories and structure-activities are discussed. The results indicated that compounds 1 and 3–7 had significant anti-inflammatory activities. The relationships between inflammation and phospholipids metabolism were elucidated by multivariate data analysis. Twenty-two potential biomarkers were identified in inflammatory group vs. blank group, and 11 potential biomarkers were identified for inflammatory group vs. drug-treatment groups. Ten common phospholipids were characterized. On the basis of a previous study in our laboratory, we found that phosphatidylethanolamine (18:0/18:1) might be the important glycerophospholipid biomarker in inflammation. In this study, we firstly combined anti-inflammatory activities and glycerophospholipids changes of traditional Chinese medicine. This work suggests that the anti-inflammatory activities of diarylheptanoids might be significantly related to glycerophospholipids and could provide a useful database for investigating the anti-inflammatory effects of traditional Chinese medicine.