Fig. 3. Effects of the selective cycloxygenase-2 inhibitor NS-398 on regulating the effects of human placental multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (hPMSCs) against the up-regulation of tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6, macrophage inflammatory protein, intercellular adhesion molecule 1, prostaglandin E2, and interleukin-10 in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated RAW264.7 cells. Human placental MSCs (cell number: hPMSCs vs . RAW264.7 cells = 1:102) were added to RAW264.7 cells at 4 h before LPS administration. NS-398 (1 μM) was added at 30 min before hPMSCs. LPS+R is the RAW264.7 cells plus LPS (100 ng/ml) group; LPS+R+S is the RAW264.7 cells plus hPMSCs plus LPS group; LPS+R+S+N is the RAW264.7 cells plus hPMSCs plus NS-398 plus LPS group. For tumor necrosis factor-α assay, culture media were harvested at 6 h after reaction. For assays of interleukin-6, macrophage inflammatory protein, intercellular adhesion molecule 1, prostaglandin E2, and interleukin-10, culture media were harvested at 18 h after reaction. The concentrations of tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6, macrophage inflammatory protein, intercellular adhesion molecule 1, prostaglandin E2, and interleukin-10 were assayed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Data were derived from three independent experiments performed in duplicates (n = 6) and analyzed with one-way ANOVA with the Tukey test for post hoc comparisons. Data were means ± standard deviations. *P < 0.05 versus the LPS+R group. #P < 0.05 the LPS+R+S+N group versus the LPS+R+S group. ICAM-1 = intercellular adhesion molecule; IL = interleukin; LPS = lipopolysaccharide; MIP-2 = macrophage inflammatory protein; N = NS-398; PGE2= prostaglandin E2; R = RAW264.7; S = human placental multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells, or hPMSCs; TNF-α = tumor necrosis factor-α.