eng Science and Education Publishing Journal of Food and Nutrition Research 2333-1240 2017-04-21 5 5 309 312 10.12691/jfnr-5-5-4 JFNR2017554 article Hyun Woo Kang khw7200@ysu.ac.kr 1 Department of Korean Food & Culinary Arts, Youngsan University, Busan, 612-743, Korea This study investigated the anti-inflammatory effects of Eucommia ulmoides Oliv. (EUO) leaf extracts on RAW264.7 macrophages. Cell toxicity was determined by MTT assay. We evaluated the anti-inflammatory effects of EUO extracts by measuring nitric oxide (NO), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) production, and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression by western blotting. EUO ethanolic extracts (0.1, 1, 5, and 10 μg/mL) significantly suppressed LPS-stimulated production of NO. EUO ethanolic extracts reduced the expression of iNOS and COX-2 proteins. The present results show that EUO ethanol extract has potent anti-inflammatory effects on RAW264.7 macrophages. These results also suggest that the anti-inflammatory effects of EUO extracts may be related to the inhibition of LPS-stimulated NO production. Therefore, ethanolic extracts of EUO leaves may be utilized as a good source of functional food and pharmaceutical applications for protection against inflammatory diseases. http://pubs.sciepub.com/jfnr/5/5/4/jfnr-5-5-4.pdf Eucommia ulmoides Oliv inflammation macrophage cells iNOS COX-2