title: The immune-enhancing effect of the herbal combination Bouum-Myunyuk-Dan.
abstract: The herbal formulation Bouum-Myunyuk-Dan (BMD) has long been used for various diseases. It has been shown to have antimicrobial and anti viral activity clinically. However, it is still unclear how BMD exerts these effects in experimental models. In this study, we investigated the effect of BMD on the production of cytokines in a human T cell line, MOLT-4 cells, and in mouse peritoneal macrophages. As a result, BMD significantly increased the viability and proliferation of splenocytes (p<0.05) and also significantly increased interleukin (IL)-2 and IL-4 production compared with media control (about 2.7-fold for IL-2 and 6.7-fold for IL-4, p<0.05) after 24 h. BMD increased the interferon (IFN)-gamma production by 3.7-fold but there were no significant differences compared with controls. Maximal effective concentrations of BMD were 1 mg/ml for IL-2 and IL-4 and 0.1 mg/ml for IFN-gamma. In addition, BMD (0.01 mg/ml) increased the production of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and IL-12 in mouse peritoneal macrophages (by 2.7-fold for TNF-alpha and 42.5-fold for IL-12, p<0.05). In conclusion, these data indicate that BMD may have an immune-enhancing effect through the production of various cytokines.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, College of Oriental Medicine, Kyung Hee University, 1 Hoegi-Dong, Dongdaemun-Gu, Seoul 130-701, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyun-Ja
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.forename: Hwan-Suck
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Hyo-Jin
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: An
authors.forename: Sang-Wan
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.forename: Tae-gyun
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jin-Hee
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Won
authors.forename: Jo-Young
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Kyoo-Seok
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.forename: Hyung-Min
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D000818:Animals; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D002460:Cell Line; D002470:Cell Survival; D016207:Cytokines / Q000096:biosynthesis; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D007202:Indicators and Reagents; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology; D017737:Macrophages, Peritoneal / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D013154:Spleen / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; C488389:Bouum-Myunyuk-Dan; D016207:Cytokines; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D007202:Indicators and Reagents