Assessment of inhibitory effects on inflammatory mediator production in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW 264.7 murine macrophage cell line: An in vitro study of beef and chicken curry incorporating massaman curry paste

Abstract

The inflammatory response is the most prevalent and significant complication associated with numerous non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Therefore, there is growing interest in using curry paste as a functional ingredient containing numerous bioactive compounds, incorporated into meat-based chicken and beef curry, to develop functional foods that reduce inflammatory activity and cytokine production. This study aims to investigate the anti-inflammatory properties of aqueous extracts from massaman curry paste (MCP), which was further incorporated into chicken massaman curry (CMC) and beef massaman curry (BMC). The evaluation included total phenolic content (TPC), quantification of bioactive compounds and anti-inflammatory activity, including cytokines inhibition in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW264.7 murine macrophage cells. MCP exhibited the highest TPC (0.488±0.003 mg GAE/100 g extract) and contained various phenolic compounds such as catechin, cinnamic acid, ferulic acid, and coumaric acid. All aqueous extracts (MCP, CMC, BMC) were non-toxic to RAW264.7 cells (0.001–1 mg/mL). Their IC₅₀ values for NO production ranged from 93.83 to 924.74 µg/mL, with significant reductions in TNF-α and IL-6 observed at 0.1 and 0.01 µg/mL, respectively. CMC demonstrated the highest inhibitory effect on NO production (IC₅₀ value of 93.83 ± 0.87 µg/mL). Compared to BMC, CMC also showed greater suppression of TNF-α and IL-6 levels. This present study will be further extended to evaluate the efficacy of MCP and MCP-incorporated CMC and BMC curries in vivo and clinical applications to validate these findings in digestive system-associated diseases caused by inflammation.