Napsin A, a member of the aspartic protease family, is abundantly expressed in normal lung and kidney tissue and is expressed in lung adenocarcinomas

In a previous work, we tested a series of chalcone derivatives as possible anti-inflammatory compounds. We now investigate the effects of three of those compounds, CHI, CH8 and CH12, on nitric oxide and prostanoid generation in mouse peritoneal macrophages stimulated with lipopolysaccharide and in the mouse air pouch injected with zymosan, where they showed a dose-dependent inhibition with inhibitory concentration 50% values in the microM range. This effect was not the consequence of a direct inhibitory action on enzyme activities. Our results demonstrated that chalcone derivatives inhibited de novo inducible nitric oxide synthase and cyclooxygenase-2 synthesis, being a novel therapeutic approach for inflammatory diseases.