| Summary: | Blue honeysuckle (Lonicera caerulea L) is a (poly) phenol-rich edible berry. Based on the properties of phenolic compounds, we investigated the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects of blue honeysuckle extract (BHE) in adjuvant-induced arthritis (AIA) rat model and macrophage-like (RAW264.7) cell model. Oral administration of BHE in the range of 75–300 µg/g BW attenuated AIA symptom as reducing paw edema in rats. The serum levels of pro-inflammatory factors including tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, and nitric oxide (NO) were significantly reduced in BHE-fed rat. The production of inflammatory enzymes, inducible nitric oxide synthases (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), in the spleen was also significantly suppressed. Moreover, serum transaminases including glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT), glutamate-pyruvate transaminase (GPT) and gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) were inhibited, and the antioxidant enzymes including superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) were recovered. Finally, the major bioactive components in BHE were identified as (−)-epicatechin (EC) and cyanidin 3-glucoside (C3G), which were proven to suppress the expression of COX-2 and iNOS, accompanied by enhancing the level of Nrf2 and HO-1 in RAW264.7 cells. Taken together, our data demonstrated that BHE rich with EC and C3G attenuated rat AIA symptom with crosstalk of anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects.
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