Background:

Tomatidine acts as an anti-inflammatory agent by blocking NF-κB and JNK signaling.

Tomatidine decreases inducible NO synthase and COX-2 expression through suppression of I-κBα phosphorylation, NF-κB nuclear translocation and JNK activation, which in turn inhibits c-jun phosphorylation and Oct-2 expression. Tomatidine, solasodine and diosgenin (40 μM) show 66%, 22% and 41% inhibition of nitrite production, respectively. The iNOS protein is barely detectable in unstimulated cells but markedly increases after LPS treatment, and Tomatidine causes dose-dependent inhibition of LPS-induced iNOS expression. p65 is the major component of NF-κB in LPS-stimulated macrophages, the effect of Tomatidine on p65 DNA-binding activity is determined. In the presence of Tomatidine at 10-40 μM, the binding activity of NF-κB is suppressed in a dose-dependent manner. Tomatidine inhibits the phosphorylation of I-κB, blocks the I-κB production, and furthermore suppresses p65 NF-κB translocation to the nucleus and modulated binding activity[1].

[1]. Chiu FL, et al. Tomatidine inhibits iNOS and COX-2 through suppression of NF-kappaB and JNK pathways in LPS-stimulated mouse macrophages. FEBS Lett. 2008 Jul 9;582(16):2407-12.