Anti-Inflammatory and antiviral effects of water-soluble crude extract from Phragmites australis in vitro.

Phragmitesaustralis (P. australis), a worldwide distributed wetland grass, is traditionally used as food-making helper and spice in China. The pharmacological effect of this plant is poorly understood. Here, we demonstrated that lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced production of inflammatory mediators nitric oxide (NO) and reactive oxygen species (ROS), and the pro-inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) in RAW264.7 macrophage were significantly inhibited by the crude extract. The inflammation pertinent signaling extra cellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (Erk1/2), P38MAPK, C-Jun and NF-kappaB (NF-κB) activated by LPS could be dramatically inhibited by this extract. It also remarkably inhibited bovine herpes virus type 1 (BoHV-1) replication in MDBK cells. Taken together, here, for the first time we provided P. australisa a novel natural herb as a potential candidate for the generation of antiviral and anti-inflammatory agent.