ABSTRACT
A regulatory or suppressor T cell is functionally defined as a T cell that inhibits an immune response by influencing the activity of another cell type. On the other hand, Th1 cells express IFN-gamma and mediate cellular immunity. Sclareol exhibits growth inhibition and cytotoxic activity against a variety of human cancer cell lines. In the first set of experiments, Sclareol was isolated from the plant Salvia sclarea and our study assessed the immuno-therapeutic effectiveness of Sclareol by direct intra-tumoral injection. Secondly, several immunological parameters such as splenocytes proliferation, intra-tumor CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Treg cells, IFN-gamma and IL-4 secretion and tumor size were assessed to evaluate the anti-tumoral immune response. By all means, the findings confirmed that the activity of Sclareol could reduce the tumor growth in vivo against breast cancer.
Subject(s)
Antineoplastic Agents/pharmacology , Breast Neoplasms , Diterpenes/pharmacology , Phytotherapy , T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory/drug effects , Animals , Cell Proliferation/drug effects , Cells, Cultured , Cytokines/metabolism , Female , Flow Cytometry , Injections, Intralesional , Interferon-gamma/metabolism , Interleukin-4/metabolism , Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy , Mice , Mice, Inbred BALB C , Sheep , T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory/immunologyABSTRACT
Artemisia belongs to the family of Compositea; there are different Artemisias in Iran, of which Artemisia annua L. is grown in the north of Iran. In this study, Artemisinin was extracted and purified from the whole plants. The purification of Artemisinin was performed using column chromatography in different polarities of solvents and the results were evaluated by Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC). (1)H-NMR (NMR-500) spectroscopy was used to characterize the purified Artemisinin. The immunosuppressive activity of Artemisinin was investigated on Balb/c mice by DTH response in comparison to cyclosporin A (CsA). The data indicated that Artemisinin could suppress the delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) against sheep blood capsule in Balb/c mice. Also its inhibitory effect on calmodulin (CaM) structure was determined by fluorescence spectroscopy. The data indicated an inhibitory effect of that on the activity of calmodulin by increasing the fluorescence emission of calmodulin. Both in vivo (DTH response) and in vitro (spectrofluorometry) studies indicated the activity of Artemisinin as an immunosuppressive agent and that the fluorescence emission of calmodulin is more than cyclosporin A.
