RESUMO
Objective: To investigate the effects of Liuwei Dihuang decoction (LW), its San-bu (three tonics) and Sanxie (three eliminators) ingredients on regulating the mmune function of senescence-accelerated mice (SAM). Methods: SAM-prone (SAMP) 8 mice were orally administrated with LW (10 g/kg), San-bu (6.4 g/kg) and San-xie (3.6 g/kg) respectively, once per day for 60 days, while SAM-resistant ( SAMR) 1 mice administrated with distilled water as control group. 3H-TdR incorporation was applied for detecting splenocyte proliferation. Flow cytometry (FCM) was used to observe the percentage of CD3+, CD4+,CD8+ and CD19+ ymphocytes in the spleens. Results: Compared with SAMR1 group, the splenocyte proliferation induced by ConA an LPS, percentages of CD3+, CD4 +, CD8+ and CD19+ lymphocytes and ratios of CD3+/CD19+ and CD4+/CD8+ in spleens decreased, while percentage of CD19+ lymphocytes increased in SAMP8 group. After administration of LW, San-bu and San-xie, the above ndexes were mproved to various degrees. LW showed better effects on improving LPS-induced splenocyte proliferation, percentages of CD3+, CD19+ and CD4+ lymphocytes, and the ratios of CD3+ /CD19+ and CD4+/CD8+ than San-bu and San-xie. San-bu showed better effect on mproving ConA-induced splenocyte proliferation than LW and San-xie, and better effect on mproving the percentages of CD3+, CD19+ and CD4+ lymphocytes in the spleens and the ratios of CD3+/CD19+ than San-xie, while San-xie had better effect on regulating CD4+/CD8+ ratio than San-bu. Conclusion: These results suggest that LW regulates the function of T and B lymphocytes and the mbalance of subsets of CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes in the spleens of SAMP8. LW shows better effects than San-bu or San-xie used alone, while San-bu and San-xie have their particular effects. The effects of LW on regulating the immune function might be the integral results of San-bu and San-xie. The results provid some experimental evidences for revealing the compatibility of LW.