Immune-enhancement effect of the herbal combination Allergina.
BACKGROUND
The herbal formulation, Allergina, has long been used for various diseases. It is known to have an anti-microbial and anti-virus activity. However, it is still unclear how Allergina has these effects in experimental models. We investigated the effect of Allergina on the proliferation of T cell and production of cytokines in human T-cell line, MOLT-4 cells, and mouse peritoneal macrophages.


METHODS
The MOLT-4 cells were cultured for 24 h in the presence or absence of Allergina. Allergina significantly increased the cell viability by 26.9+/-5.4% (P<0.05) and interleukin (IL)-2, IL-4 and interferon (IFN)-gamma production compared with media control (about 4-fold for IL-2, 2.5-fold for IL-4 and 3.4-fold for IFN-gamma, P<0.05). Maximal effective concentration of Allergina was 1 mg/ml for IL-2 and, 0.01 mg/ml for IL-4 and IFN-gamma. Allergina alone or Allergina plus recombinant IFN-gamma (rIFN-gamma) increased the production of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, but Allergina decreased the production of TNF-alpha on rIFN-gamma plus LPS-stimulated macrophages. In addition, Allergina increased the production of IL-12 on mouse peritoneal macrophages and peripheral blood mononuclear cells.


CONCLUSIONS
Allergina may have an immune-enhancement effect through the cytokine production.
Department of Pharmacology, College of Oriental Medicine, Kyung Hee University, 1 Hoegi-Dong, Dongdaemun-Gu, Seoul 130-701, South Korea.
Hyun-Ja
HJ
Jeong
Hwan-Suck
HS
Chung
Hyo-Jin
HJ
An
Joon-Bae
JB
Kim
Eun-Mi
EM
Lee
Eun-Jeong
EJ
Park
Chul-Ho
CH
Jang
Seung-Heon
SH
Hong
Hyung-Min
HM
Kim
D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D003208:Concanavalin A / Q000494:pharmacology; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D018664:Interleukin-12 / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000494:pharmacology; D017737:Macrophages, Peritoneal / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D013864:Thioglycolates / Q000494:pharmacology; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism
D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; C467830:Allergina; D007376:Interleukin-2; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D010936:Plant Extracts; D013864:Thioglycolates; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D003208:Concanavalin A; D018664:Interleukin-12; D015847:Interleukin-4; D007371:Interferon-gamma