OBJECTIVETo study the anti-inflammatory effect of resveratrol in primary cortical astrocyte cultures stimulated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and explore the underlying mechanism of this protective effect.

METHODSThe astrocytes were cultured in the presence of resveratrol at different concentrations for 12 h followed by stimulation with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) for another 24 h. Lactate dehydrogenas (LDH) leakage volumes were detected, the cytotoxicity of resveratrol was examined using cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8), the release of NO was measured by Griess reaction, and the expression levels of TNF-α and iNOS were measured using ELISA and Western blotting respectively.

RESULTSThe purity of the astrocytes cultured in vitro was (95.49∓1.86)%. LPS treatment increased LDH leakage and reduced the survival rate of the astrocytes, resulting also in significantly increased NO and TNF-α release and iNOS protein expressions. Within the concentration range of 5-50 µmol/L, resveratrol effectively improved the survival rate of the astrocytes and decreased LDH leakage with a dose-response relationship. Only 25 and 50 µmol/L resveratrol produced obvious inhibitory effect on NO and TNF-α release and iNOS expression, while 5 µmol/L resveratrol had no such effects.

CONCLUSIONHigh concentration of resveratrol can inhibit the release of inflammatory mediators and improve the inflammation injury induced by LPS in astrocytes, the mechanism of which may involve the inhibition of iNOS/NO expression pathway.