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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Data Supplement All Versions of this Article: jimmunol.0901827v1 183/10/6754    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Google Scholar Articles by Schepetkin, I. A. Articles by Quinn, M. T. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Schepetkin, I. A. Articles by Quinn, M. T.

Immunomodulatory Activity of Oenothein B Isolated from Epilobium angustifolium¹

Igor A. Schepetkin,^* Liliya N. Kirpotina,^* Larissa Jakiw,^* Andrei I. Khlebnikov, Christie L. Blaskovich,^* Mark A. Jutila,^* and Mark T. Quinn^2*

^*Departments of Veterinary Molecular Biology, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717; and Department of Chemistry, Altai State Technical University, Barnaul, Russia

Epilobium angustifolium has been traditionally used to treat of a number of diseases; however, not much is known regarding its effect on innate immune cells. In this study, we report that extracts of E. angustifolium activated functional responses in neutrophils and monocyte/macrophages. Activity-guided fractionation, followed by mass spectroscopy and NMR analysis, resulted in the identification of oenothein B as the primary component responsible for phagocyte activation. Oenothein B, a dimeric hydrolysable tannin, dose-dependently induced a number of phagocyte functions in vitro, including intracellular Ca²⁺ flux, production of reactive oxygen species, chemotaxis, NF-B activation, and proinflammatory cytokine production. Furthermore, oenothein B was active in vivo, inducing keratinocyte chemoattractant production and neutrophil recruitment to the peritoneum after intraperitoneal administration. Biological activity required the full oenothein B structure, as substructures of oenothein B (pyrocatechol, gallic acid, pyrogallol, 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid) were all inactive. The ability of oenothein B to modulate phagocyte functions in vitro and in vivo suggests that this compound is responsible for at least part of the therapeutic properties of E. angustifolium extracts.

The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked advertisement in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.

¹ This work was supported in part by National Institutes of Health Grants P20 RR-020185, P20 RR-016455, and P01 AT0004986-01; National Institutes of Health contract HHSN266200400009C; an equipment grant from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust; and the Montana State University Agricultural Experimental Station.

² Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Mark T. Quinn, Veterinary Molecular Biology, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717. E-mail address: mquinn{at}montana.edu

³ Abbreviations used in this paper: ROS, reactive oxygen species; PGG, 1,2,3,4,6-pentakis-O-galloyl-β-D-glucose; fMLF, N-formyl-Met-Leu-Phe; NBT, nitro blue tetrazolium; LAL, Limulus amebocyte lysate; KC, keratinocyte chemoattractant; FI, fold increase.

⁴ The online version of this article contains supplementary material.