Aucklandia lappa is a plant whose rhizome is commonly used in Traditional Chinese medicine. Compounds in the rhizome are thought to have anti-fungal, anti-oxidant and anti-cancer properties. Dehydrocostuslactone and costunolide have been isolated from the rhizome.
Aucklandia lappa Decne, a well-known traditional herbal medicine, is used for the treatment of asthma, rheumatism, coughs, tuberculosis and numerous other diseases. The present study evaluated the inhibitory effects of the three sesquiterpene lactones costunolide, dehydrocostus lactone, and alantolactone, isolated from a 70% methanolic extract of Aucklandia lappa, on the expression of chemokine mRNA in HaCaT human keratinocyte cells. The cytotoxicities of the compounds on HaCaT cells were evaluated using a Cell Counting Kit8 assay. Furthermore, the inhibitory effects of the three compounds on chemokine expression in tumor necrosis factor (TNF)‑α‑ and interferon (IFN)‑γ‑stimulated HaCaT cells were analyzed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis.