Effects of Monascus vinegar on the inflammatory regulation: inflammatory ingredients determination and corresponding effects mechanism analysis

Monascus vinegar (MV) is a typical fermented food with multiple inflammatory regulation components, but the diversity species and variable content of effective compounds hinder the related study. To identify the effective anti-inflammatory ingredients and corresponding mechanism. Transcriptomics, molecular docking (monoligand and polyligand docking) and molecular dynamics simulation analysis were used to find acetic acid and catechin were the core anti-inflammatory ingredients, tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 (TNFR1) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα) were the target receptors, acetic acid and catechin regulated TNF and NF-κB signaling pathways by acting on TNFα/TNFR1 interaction. Catechin has higher binding affinity (−300 kJ/mol) than acetic acid (−590 kJ/mol), while acetic acid effectively promoted TNFR1-catechin formation. Moreover, RAW264.7 cell assays demonstrated that acetic acid and catechin had the ability to synergically suppress the expression of inflammation-related proteins. Overall, the research provides more valuable references for developing natural functional vinegar to prevent inflammation.