ABSTRACT
The effects of Cedrela lilloi and Trichilia elegans (Meliaceae) aqueous leaf extracts on several parameters of the mouse immune system were studied. Both extracts showed a strong anticomplementary activity and inhibited the phagocytosis of opsonized sheep erythrocytes and the activation of the oxidative metabolism by opsonized zymosan on peritoneal macrophages. The in vitro proliferation of spleen T-lymphocytes was also impaired. Furthermore, treatment of mice with the extracts diminished the delayed-type hypersensitivity response to sheep erythrocytes. These results suggest that both extracts exert a marked immunomodulatory effect on the mouse immune system.
Subject(s)
Adjuvants, Immunologic/therapeutic use , Complement Activation/drug effects , Hypersensitivity, Delayed/drug therapy , Macrophages, Peritoneal/drug effects , Phagocytosis/drug effects , Plant Extracts/therapeutic use , T-Lymphocytes/drug effects , Adjuvants, Immunologic/administration & dosage , Adjuvants, Immunologic/pharmacology , Animals , Argentina , Cell Separation , Erythrocytes/cytology , Erythrocytes/drug effects , Female , Lymphocyte Activation/drug effects , Macrophages, Peritoneal/cytology , Mice , Mice, Inbred BALB C , Nitroblue Tetrazolium/chemistry , Plant Extracts/administration & dosage , Plant Extracts/pharmacology , Plant Leaves/metabolism , Sheep , T-Lymphocytes/immunology , Zymosan/toxicityABSTRACT
Human peripheral blood monocytes and polymorphonuclear leukocytes treated with leaf aqueous extracts of the Meliaceae tree Cedrela tubiflora showed a diminution in both their phagocytic and respiratory burst activities. Besides, the extract inhibited the proliferation of Concanavalin A stimulated lymphocytes. A decrease in the hemolytic capacity of the human complement was also observed. The significance of the inhibitory effect observed over some components of the human immune system closely related with the inflammatory process is discussed.
