Background: Microglial cells act as the sentinel of the central nervous system .They are involved in neuroprotection but are highly implicated in neurodegeneration of the aging brain. When over-activated, microglia release pro-inflammatory factors, such as nitric oxide (NO) and cytokines, which are critical in eliciting neuroinflammatory responses associated with neurodegenerative diseases. This study examined whether bromelain, the pineapple-derived extract, may exert an anti-inflammatory effect in primary microglia and may be neuroprotective by regulating microglial activation. Methods: Following the isolation of neonatal rat primary microglial cells, the activation profile of microglia was investigated by studying the effects of bromelain (5, 10, 20, and 30 µg/ml) on the levels of NO, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) in microglia treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (1 µg/ml). Data were analyzed using Student's t-test. P values less than 0.05 were considered to be statistically significant, compared with the LPS-treated group without bromelain. Results: Results showed that pretreatment of rat primary microglia with bromelain, decreased the production of NO induced by LPS (1 µg/ml) treatment in a dose-dependent manner. Bromelain (30 µg/ml) also significantly reduced the expression of iNOS at mRNA level and NF-κB at protein level. Moreover, the study of mitochondrial activity in microglia indicated that bromelain had no cytotoxicity at any of the applied doses, suggesting that the anti-inflammatory effects of bromelain are not due to cell death. Conclusion: Bromelain can be of potential use as an agent for alleviation of symptoms in neurodegenerative diseases.

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