Delphinidin 3-sambubioside (Dp3-Sam), a Hibiscus anthocyanin, was isolated from the dried calices of Hibiscus sabdariffa L, which has been used for folk beverages and herbal medicine although the molecular mechanisms are poorly defined. Based on the properties of Dp3-Sam and the information of inflammatory processes, we investigated the anti-inflammatory activity and molecular mechanisms in both cell and animal models in the present study. In the cell model, Dp3-Sam and Delphinidin (Dp) reduced the levels of inflammatory mediators including iNOS, NO, IL-6, MCP-1, and TNF-alpha induced by LPS. Cellular signaling analysis revealed that Dp3-Sam and Dp downregulated NF-kappa B pathway and MEK1/2-ERK1/2 signaling. In animal model, Dp3-Sam and Dp reduced the production of IL-6, MCP-1 and TNF-a and attenuated mouse paw edema induced by LPS. Our in vitro and in vivo data demonstrated that Hibiscus Dp3-Sam possessed potential anti-inflammatory properties. (C) 2015 BioFactors, 41(1):58-65, 2015