Cryptotanshinone inhibits cyclooxygenase-2 enzyme activity but not its expression

Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is a key enzyme that catalyzes the biosynthesis of prostaglandins from arachidonic acid and plays a critical role in some pathologies including inflammation, neurodegenerative diseases and cancer. Cryptotanshinone is a major constituent of tanshinones, which are extracted from the medicinal herb Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge, and has well-documented antioxidative and anti-inflammatory effects. This study confirmed the remarkable anti-inflammatory effect of cryptotanshinone in the carrageenan-induced rat paw edema model. Since the action of cryptotanshinone on COX-2 has not been previously described, in the present study, we further examined the effect of cryptotanshinone on cyclooxygenase activity in the exogenous arachidonic acid-stimulated insect sf-9 cells, which highly express human COX-2 or human COX-1, and on cyclooxygenases expression in human U937 promonocytes stimulated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) plus phorbolmyristate acetate (PMA). Cryptotanshinone reduced prostaglandin E₂ synthesis and reactive oxygen species generation catalyzed by COX-2, without influencing COX-1 activity in cloned sf-9 cells. In PMA plus LPS-stimulated U937 cells, cryptotanshinone had negligible effects on the expression of COX-1 and COX-2, at either a mRNA or protein level. These results demonstrate that the anti-inflammatory effect of cryptotanshinone is directed against enzymatic activity of COX-2, not against the transcription or translation of the enzyme.