Effects of erucin on inflammatory mediators and antioxidant enzymes’ expression in TNF-α-stimulated human oral epithelial cells

Abstract

Objectives

Periodontitis is a chronic inflammatory disease induced by periodontal disease-causing bacteria. It has been shown that excessive immune response against bacteria is involved in periodontal tissue destruction including alveolar bone resorption. Erucin is a biologically active substance found in cruciferous plants such as arugula and is classified as an isothiocyanate. No previous studies have attempted to use erucin in the treatment of periodontitis, and there are no papers that have examined the effects of erucin on periodontal resident cells. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of erucin on the production of inflammatory and antioxidant mediators produced by tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α-stimulated TR146 cells, an oral epithelial cell line, including its effects on signaling molecules.

Methods

Cytokine and chemokine levels were measured by ELISA. Protein expression in TR146 cells and activations of signal transduction pathway were determined by Western blotting.

Results

Our results indicate that erucin suppresses interleukin-6 and CXC-chemokine ligand 10 production and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 expression in TNF-α-stimulated TR146 cells. In addition, erucin induced the production of the antioxidant enzymes, Heme Oxygenase-1 and NAD(P)H quinone dehydrogenase 1 in TR146 cells. Furthermore, erucin suppressed TNF-α-stimulated nuclear factor-κB, signal transducer and activator of transcription3, and phospho-70S6 Kinase–S6 ribosomal protein signaling pathways in TR146 cells. We have shown that erucin has anti-inflammatory effects on oral epithelial cells and also induces the production of antioxidant mediators.

Conclusions

These results suggest that erucin may provide a new anti-inflammatory agent that can be used in the treatment of periodontitis.

Keywords:

• Erucin
• anti-inflammatory effect
• antioxidant enzyme
• signal transduction
• oral epithelial cells

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Correction

Author contributions

Conceptualization, Y.H.; investigation, M.S., Y.H., and I.H.; methodology, M.S., Y.H., I.H., and K.O.; writing—original draft, Y.H.; and writing—review and editing, K.O. and K.H. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability statement

The data in this manuscript are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Correction Statement

This article was originally published with errors, which have now been corrected in the online version. Please see Correction (http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08923973.2024.2314849)

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI [Grant Numbers: 22K09966 and 22K09984].