Foeniculum vulgare has long been prescribed in traditional medicine for the treatment of inflammation diseases. In this study, we aimed to investigate the inhibitory effects of the fruits of F. vulgare on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophage cells under non-cytotoxic (100 μg/ml) conditions. The 80% methanol extract was subsequently partitioned successively with hexane, methylene chloride, ethyl acetate, and n-butanol, and the fractions so obtained were also examined for

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... anti-inflammatory effects. Among them, the hexane, methylene chloride, and ethyl acetate fractions inhibited nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) production in LPS stimulated macrophages. The methylene chloride and ethyl acetate fractions also suppressed the productions of interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-6 by down-regulating their mRNA levels in LPS stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. Furthermore, the ethyl acetate fraction strongly suppressed tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α at the protein and mRNA levels in LPS stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. These observations suggest that the anti-inflammatory actions of F. vulgare are due to inhibitions of the productions of NO, PGE2, and pro-inflammatory cytokines.