Anti-Inflammatory Potentials of Silkworm extracts

Abstract

Silkworm is recently highlighted as a biological resource. Our study aimed to verify the anti-inflammatory action of silkworm-extract, and to understand its applicability for development of oral hygiene goods. Immortalized human oral keratinocytes(IHOK) and immortalized human normal gingival fibroblasts(hTERT-hNOF) were used for this study. To investigate the cytotoxic effect of Silkworm extracts, MTT assays were carried out. To identify anti-inflammatory potentials of Silkworm extracts, it was measured that Reactive oxygen species(ROS) generation and the secretion of inflammatory cytokines(IL-6 and IL-8). All data was carried out by multiple repeats and analyzed by Mann-whitney U test(SPSS ver. 21.0). Silkworm extracts (up to 2%) had little effect on cell viability (?80% cell growth) in oral epithelial cells and fibroblasts. Next, we identified the antioxidant effect of Silkworm extracts. As results, LPS-induced ROS was significantly reduced by Silkworm extracts in two cell lines. Lastly, inflammatory cytokines(IL-6 and IL-8) was weakly decreased by Silkworm extract in fibroblasts, not in oral epithelial cells. In conclusions, Silkworm extracts have the potentials anti-inflammatory effects, including ROS reduction and the decreased secreted level of inflammatory cytokines in some cells. This study suggests that Silkworm extracts could have the possibilities as preventative and therapeutic products for oral inflammation, including the periodontal diseases.