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Sophora flavescens is used as a traditional herbal medicine to modulate inflammatory responses. However, little is known about the impact of (‐)‐maackiain, a compound derived from S. flavescens, on the activation of inflammasome/caspase‐1, a key factor in interleukin‐1β (IL‐1β) processing. Here, we report that (‐)‐maackiain potently amplified caspase‐1 cleavage in macrophages in response to nigericin (Nig). In macrophages primed with either lipopolysaccharide or monophosphoryl lipid A, Nig‐mediated caspase‐1 cleavage was also markedly promoted by (‐)‐maackiain. Notably, (‐)‐maackiain induced the production of vimentin, an essential mediator for the activation of the NOD‐, LRR‐, and pyrin domain‐containing protein 3 inflammasome, thereby contributing to promotion of the formation of the inflammasome complex to activate caspase‐1. Taken together, our data suggest that (‐)‐maackiain exerts an immunostimulatory effect by promoting IL‐1β production via activation of the inflammasome/caspase‐1 pathway. Thus, the potent inflammasome‐activating effect of (‐)‐maackiain may be clinically useful as an acute immune‐stimulating agent., Proinflammatory cytokine interleukin‐1β (IL‐1β) plays critical roles in defending against infections. Sophora flavescens‐derived (‐)‐maackiain potently amplifies caspase‐1 cleavage in response to nigericin. Notably, (‐)‐maackiain promotes caspase‐1 cleavage and IL‐1β production even in monophosphoryl lipid A‐primed macrophages. The potent inflammasome‐activating effect of (‐)‐maackiain may be clinically useful as an acute immune‐stimulating agent.

The value-added products in livestock industry is one of the key issues in order to maximize the revenue and to create a new business model. Numerous studies have suggested application of herbal plants as feed additives to increase health, productivity, and/or high-quality product in livestock. In this study, the first experiment was designed to develop in vitro evaluation system by using primary chicken myoblast (pCM) cells isolated from pectoralis major of 10-day-old male embryos. Subsequently, to evaluate effects of Korean Danggui Angelica gigas Nakai (AGN), we optimized the concentration of AGN root extract for treatment of primary pCM cells. After the treatment of AGN root extract, we compared proliferation and differentiation capacity, and also examined the gene expression. In the second experiment, the next generation sequencing analysis was performed to compare the different patterns of the global gene expression in pCM cells treated with AGN extract. Three up-regulated (pancreas beta cells, fatty acid metabolism and glycolysis) and one down-regulated (adipogenesis) gene sets were characterized suggesting that the AGN extract affected the metabolic pathways for the utilization of fat and glucose in chicken muscle cells. Furthermore, we validated the expression patterns of the up-regulated genes (GCLC, PTPN6, ISL1, SLC25A13, TGFBI, and YWHAH) in the AGN-treated pCM cells by quantitative RT-PCR. These results demonstrated that the treatment of AGN extract decreased proliferation and differentiation of pCM cells, and affected the metabolic pathways of glucose and fatty acids. Moreover, AGN extract derived from byproducts such as stem and leaf also showed the reduced proliferation patterns on AGN-treated pCM cells. Taken together, pCM cell-based in vitro assay system could be primarily and efficiently applied for evaluating the biofunctional efficacy of various feed additive candidates.