Method: HGFs were treated with acemannan (1-4 mg/ml), LPS (1 µg/ml), or the mixture of acemannan and LPS for 24 h. The non-treated group was used as a negative control. After 24 h exposure, the total RNA from each group was extracted. Changes in the steady-state concentration of mRNA for IL-1β and IL-6 were assessed by RT-PCR. The three independent experiments were performed. The data were presented as Mean ± S.E. and analyzed by using one-way ANOVA (SPSS program; p-value ≤ 0.05).
Result: Treatment with acemannan or LPS individually did not significantly affect IL-1β and IL-6 expressions (p > 0.05). The co-treatment of acemannan (4 mg/ml) with LPS (1 µg/ml) significantly induced IL-1β expression by 2.07 and 1.83 folds, compared with non-treated group and LPS-treated group, respectively (p < 0.05). In contrast, the co-treatment of acemannan and LPS did not significantly affect IL-6 expression (p> 0.05).
Conclusion: The co-treatment with acemannan and lipopolysaccharide increased IL-1β mRNA level in HGFs.