Wheatgrass inhibits the lipopolysaccharide-stimulated inflammatory effect in RAW 264.7 macrophages

Inflammation is a multifaceted set of cellular communications generated against foreign infection, toxic influence or autoimmune injury. The present study investigates the anti-inflammatory effect of wheatgrass extract against the harmful impact of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in macrophage cells, i.e., RAW 264.7 cells. Our results indicate that 5- and 7- days old wheatgrass extracts inhibit the LPS-stimulated production of nitric oxide. Moreover, wheatgrass extract significantly downregulates the mRNA expression of LPS-stimulated various pro-inflammatory markers, tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6, interleukin-1β, AP-1 and also iNOS-2 and COX-2. Our flow cytometry analyses confirmed that wheatgrass extract prevents the generation of reactive oxygen species in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells, thus arresting oxidative stress in cells. The immunoblot analyses also confirmed a significant reduction in the expression of inflammatory proteins, namely, iNOS-2 and COX-2, in wheatgrass extract-treated cells, compared to LPS-stimulated condition. The NF-κB transactivation assay further confirmed the inhibitory effect of wheatgrass extracts on the LPS-stimulated expression of NF-κB. Molecular docking based studies showed the plausible binding of two significant wheatgrass constituents, i.e., apigenin and myo-inositol with COX-2 protein, with binding energies of -10.59 kcal/mol and -7.88 kcal/mol, respectively. Based on the above results, wheatgrass may be considered as a potential therapeutic candidate for preventing inflammation.