Restoration of electric footshock-induced immunosuppression in mice by Gynostemma pentaphyllum components.
The immunomodulatory effects of the ethanol extract of Gynostemma pentaphyllum (GP-EX) were examined in electric footshock (EFS)-stressed mice. The mice were orally administered various doses of GP-EX for 7 days before exposure to EFS (duration: 3 min, interval: 10 s, intensity: 2 mA) once a day from day 8 for 14 days with continuous daily feeding of GP-EX. Oral administration of GP-EX to mice prevented EFS stress-induced immunosuppression as determined by the lymphoid organ (thymus and spleen) weight and cellularity. In addition, oral administration of GP-EX restored EFS-suppressed functional properties of mature lymphocytes in terms of concanavalin A-induced proliferation of splenocytes and lipopolysaccharide-induced cytokine production (TNF-α, IL-1β). Furthermore, we found that mice that were orally administered with GP-EX generated much more potent ovalbumin-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses upon intravenous ovalbumin injection compared to the untreated controls. These results demonstrate that oral administration of the ethanol extract of Gynostemma pentaphyllum could increase host defense in immunocompromised situations such as stress-induced immunosuppression.
College of Pharmacy, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju 361-763, Korea.
Sun-A
SA
Im
Hyun Sook
HS
Choi
Soon Ok
SO
Choi
Ki-Hyang
KH
Kim
Seungjeong
S
Lee
Bang Yeon
BY
Hwang
Myung Koo
MK
Lee
Chong Kil
CK
Lee
D000818:Animals; D001284:Atrophy; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D016207:Cytokines / Q000096:biosynthesis; D004597:Electroshock; D029774:Gynostemma / Q000737:chemistry*; D007165:Immunosuppression Therapy; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000494:pharmacology; D051379:Mice; D010047:Ovalbumin / Q000276:immunology; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013154:Spleen / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000187:drug effects; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology
D016207:Cytokines; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D010936:Plant Extracts; D010047:Ovalbumin