Fig. 2

The inhibitory effects of CBTE on NO production and iNOS expression. Raw 264.7 cells were treated with 10–300 μg/ml of CBTE for 1 h prior to the addition of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (1 μg/ml), and further incubated for 12 h. Cell viability was measured by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. The concentrations of nitrite in the culture medium were assessed using the Griess reagent as described in the Methods section (a). The effect of CBTE plus LPS on cell viability was determined after 12 h of incubation (b). Expression of the iNOS protein was assessed by immunoblotting using a specific anti-iNOS antibody (c). Equal amounts of the total protein (50 μg/lane) were separated by SDS-PAGE. β-actin was used as a loading control, and the relative levels of protein bands were measured by scanning densitometry. Values represent the mean ± S.D. of three independent experiments (significant compared to the control, **P < 0.01, significant as compared to LPS alone, ^## P < 0.01). CBTE, Cheongsangbangpung-tang extract