Anti-inflammatory activity and mechanism of surfactin in lipopolysaccharide-activated macrophages

Surfactin is primarily produced by Bacillus natto TK-1 and is one of the most powerful biosurfactants. It consists of a heptapeptide interlinked with a β-hydroxy fatty acid. Because of its special structure, surfactin shows broad biological effects, including anti-tumour, anti-microbial and anti-mycoplasma activities. It also has potential anti-inflammatory activity; however, the anti-inflammatory mechanism of surfactin has not been explored. In this study, we investigated the anti-inflammatory mechanism of surfactin in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated macrophages. Surfactin exhibited an anti-inflammatory effect without cytotoxicity at certain concentrations, and the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated cells appeared normal after surfactin treatment. Surfactin significantly inhibited the increased expression of IFN-γ, IL-6, iNOS and nitric oxide (NO). TLR4 is the critical receptor for LPS; therefore, the TLR4 signal transduction pathway is the primary pathway that mediates LPS-induced inflammation. The results show that surfactin downregulated the LPS-induced TLR4 protein expression of macrophages and indicated that the surfactin-mediated signal pathway was involved in with TLR4. The subsequent studies demonstrated that surfactin exhibited anti-inflammatory effects by attenuating the activation of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), which is involved in the nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) cell signalling pathways. These results suggest that surfactin may be a new therapeutic agent for inflammation.