Microglia-mediated
neuroinflammation in response to injurious self and non-self-stimuli exerts detrimental effects on neurons, which may lead to
cognitive impairment.
Luteolin, a typical kind of natural
flavonoid in honeysuckle, chrysanthemum, and Herba Schizonepetae, is widely recognized to be anti-inflammatory and
antioxidant against peripheral
inflammation. However, its protective effect against
inflammation-induced
cognitive impairment is currently unknown. In this paper, we investigated the relief potential of
luteolin against
lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced
cognitive impairment and
neuroinflammation and its possible anti-inflammatory mechanisms in
lipopolysaccharide-stimulated BV2 microglia cells. In this study,
luteolin ameliorated LPS-induced
cognitive impairments, indicated by behavioral performance of neuroinflammatory model mice in Morris water maze tests.
Protein analyses and histological examination also revealed protective effect of
luteolin against neuronal damage, through inhibiting overproduction of inflammatory
cytokines in both hippocampus and cortex of mice. We also observed
luteolin in vitro significantly suppressed the levels of pro-inflammatory
cytokines, such as
tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and
interleukin-1 β (IL-1β), and inflammatory mediators like
nitric oxide. Taken together, these results demonstrated
luteolin was effective in alleviating
cognitive impairment and limited neuronal damage via inhibiting the release of inflammatory mediators, suggesting
luteolin is potential for further therapeutic research of
neuroinflammation-related
neurodegenerative diseases.