eng Science and Education Publishing Journal of Food and Nutrition Research 2333-1240 2023-04-05 11 4 301 309 10.12691/jfnr-11-4-4 JFNR20231144 article Chuanqi Xie 1 Shufen Wang 1 Xinying Lin 1 2 Fan Yang 2 3 Juwu Hu 3 Jing Wu 3 Wei Xiong xw3886762@126.com, wulei858196@163.com 3 Lei Wu xw3886762@126.com, wulei858196@163.com 3 Institute of Applied Chemistry, Jiangxi Academy of Sciences, Nanchang, China Camellia oleifera fruit hull has a variety of biological activities such as anti-oxidation, lipid regulation, and anti-cancer etc, however the effect of C. oleifera fruit hull on inflammatory responses has not been clearly elucidated. This study aimed to explore the effect of n-hexane extract of C. oleifera fruit hull on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammatory responses in RAW264.7 cells using Griess assay, ELISA, western blotting analysis, PCR and immunofluorescence technology. The results demonstrated that n-hexane extract of C. oleifera fruit hull ameliorated the secretion of nitric oxide (NO), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), tumour necrosis factor ¦Á (TNF¦Á), interleukin (IL)-1¦Â, and IL-6, inhibited the protein expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2), downregulated the mRNA level of iNOS, COX2, TNF¦Á, IL-1¦Â, and IL-6, and improved the cell viability in LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells. Moreover, the phosphorylation of ERK, P38, and JNK and nuclear translocation of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-¦ÊB) were restrained by the treatment of n-hexane extract of C. oleifera fruit hull in LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells. Taken together, these data imply that n-hexane extract of C. oleifera fruit hull alleviates the inflammatory response by regulating the activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and NF-¦ÊB signaling pathways in LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells. http://pubs.sciepub.com/jfnr/11/4/4/jfnr-11-4-4.pdf C oleifera fruit hull n-hexane extract inflammatory responses MAPKs NF-¦ÊB