[Effect of icariin on intermediate and advanced activation of murine T lymphocytes in vitro].
OBJECTIVE
To study the effect of icariin (ICA) on the intermediate and advanced activation of murine T lymphocytes stimulated by concanvalin A (ConA) in vitro.


METHODS
Single cell suspensions were prepared from murine lymphoid nodes under germ free condition. The drug toxicity of ICA on T lymphocytes was measured by MTT after 24 h. Before they were stimulated by ConA (the final concentration was 5 mg/L), T cells were treated with different concentrations of icariin for 4 h. The expression of CD25 and CD71, the marker of intermediate and advanced activation of T lymphocytes, were measured by flow cytometry (FCM) combined with two-colour immunofluorescent staining of cell surface antigen after 24 h and 30 h. The change of cytokine contents such as IL-2, IL-4, IL-10, TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma in the supernatant of intermediate activation was measured by Luminex 100.


RESULTS
ICA at the final concentration of 0.3, 1.5, 3.0 micromol/L inhibited the expression of CD25 with dose-dependent effect but it had no effect on that of CD71. ICA decreased the secretion of IL-2, IL-4 and IL-10 but increased that of TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma.


CONCLUSIONS
ICA can not only decrease CD25, IL-2, IL-4 and IL-10 but also enhance the cell-mediated immunity reaction. So it may have a function of two-way regulation of immune balance.
Teng
Fei
F
Institute of Tissue Transplantation and Immunology, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China. tengfei_19840210@163.com
Zeng
Yao-ying
YY
Huang
Xiu-yan
XY
Yang
Zhi
Z
Yao
Man-lin
ML
Song
Bing
B
Li
Lin
L
D000818:Animals; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000378:metabolism; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005419:Flavonoids / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000378:metabolism; D016753:Interleukin-10 / Q000378:metabolism; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000378:metabolism; D053645:Interleukin-2 Receptor alpha Subunit / Q000378:metabolism; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000378:metabolism; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D011990:Receptors, Transferrin / Q000378:metabolism; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000378:metabolism
D015703:Antigens, CD; C068126:CD71 antigen; D005419:Flavonoids; D007376:Interleukin-2; D053645:Interleukin-2 Receptor alpha Subunit; D011990:Receptors, Transferrin; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D016753:Interleukin-10; D015847:Interleukin-4; D007371:Interferon-gamma; C056599:icariin