title: Homeopathic treatments modify inflammation but not behavioral response to influenza antigen challenge in BALB/c mice.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Influenza affects thousands of people worldwide every year, motivating the development of new therapies. In this work, the effects of two homeopathic preparations (influenza biotherapies and thymulin) were chosen following two different rationales: isotherapy and endo-isotherapy models. The homeopathic effects were evaluated individually considering the inflammatory and behavioral responses against influenza virus antigen were studied in BALB/c mice.
  
  
  METHODS
  Male adult mice were treated orally and blindly for 21 days with highly diluted influenza virus or with thymulin, and were divided in two sets of experiments. The first series of experiments aimed to describe their behavior, using an open field (OF) device. In the second series, mice were challenged subcutaneously with influenza hemagglutinin antigen (7 μg/200 μl) at day 21. At day 42, behavior and inflammation response were evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No behavioral changes were seen in OF tests at any time point after treatments. Flow cytometry and morphometry revealed significant changes in T and B cell balance after influenza antigen challenge, varying according to treatment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results show that both homeopathic treatments induced subtle changes in acquired immune anti-viral response regulation. A deeper understanding of the mechanism could elucidate their possible use in influenza epidemiological situations.
authors.affiliation: Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Federal Institute of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Camila Monteiro
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Siqueira
authors.affiliation: Paulista University, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Priscila Dias
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Motta
authors.affiliation: Paulista University, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Thayná Neves
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Cardoso
authors.affiliation: Paulista University, São Paulo, Brazil; University of Santo Amaro, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Cideli
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: de Paula Coelho
authors.affiliation: Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ana Flavia
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Popi
authors.affiliation: Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: José Nelson
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Couceiro
authors.affiliation: Paulista University, São Paulo, Brazil; University of Santo Amaro, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Leoni Villano
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: Bonamin
authors.affiliation: Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Electronic address: cholandino@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Carla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Holandino
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D019267:Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins, Influenza Virus / Q000276:immunology; D006705:Homeopathy; D007249:Inflammation / Q000628:therapy*; D053122:Influenza A Virus, H3N2 Subtype; D008297:Male; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D009976:Orthomyxoviridae Infections / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy*; D011897:Random Allocation; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology; D013935:Thymic Factor, Circulating / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D019267:Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins, Influenza Virus; D013935:Thymic Factor, Circulating
keywords: Behavior; Homeopathy; Immunology; Influenza hemagglutinin antigen; Influenza virus; Thymulin