eng Science and Education Publishing Journal of Food and Nutrition Research 2333-1240 2023-03-27 11 3 269 276 10.12691/jfnr-11-3-12 JFNR202311312 article Seok-Yeong Yu 1 2 Zhenhua Liu 2 Soonkyu Chung 2 Young-Cheul Kim yckim@umass.edu 2 Department of Nutrition, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA Obesity-induced chronic inflammation contributes to the development of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes and largely pertains to macrophages, primarily derived from bone marrow, (BMDMs) in insulin-sensitive tissues. Sulforaphane (SFN) is a major bioactive of cruciferous vegetables with a potent anti-inflammatory property. However, potential molecular modes of action remain unclear. The phosphorylation of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-¦ĘB) and subsequent histone acetylation are critical signaling pathways for the transcription of pro-inflammatory genes in macrophages in obesity. Therefore, we tested our hypothesis that SFN mitigates the expression of pro-inflammatory genes in macrophages by suppressing p65 phosphorylation and histone acetylation using RAW 264.7 cell line and primary mouse BMDMs. In RAW 264.7 macrophages, SFN significantly inhibited the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced pro-inflammatory genes expression, including iNos, Cox-2, Tnf¦Á, Mcp-1 and Il-6, and suppressed CD11c immunofluorescence. Moreover, SFN significantly inhibited p65 phosphorylation and acetylation levels of histone H4, while it increased the histone deacetylase 3 (HDAC3) expression. Similarly, SFN inhibited p65 phosphorylation and histone H4 acetylation with HDAC3 expression increased in the BMDMs. These results revealed that SFN exerts anti-inflammatory effects via modulation of p65 phosphorylation and histone acetylation in macrophages. Our work suggests that supplementation of SFN or SFN-containing vegetables may serve as an anti-inflammatory diet component for mitigating obesity-related inflammation and related metabolic disorders. http://pubs.sciepub.com/jfnr/11/3/12/jfnr-11-3-12.pdf Sulforaphane NF-¦ĘB RAW2647 macrophage bone marrow-derived macrophage inflammation