Clement-Kruzel Stacia, Hwang Shen-An, Kruzel Mark C, Dasgupta Amitava, Actor Jeffrey K
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Texas-Houston Medical School, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
J Med Food. 2008 Sep;11(3):493-8. doi: 10.1089/jmf.2008.0044.
Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadenisis) is a native American medicinal plant used as an immune stimulant. Astragalus (Astragalus membranaceus) is a widely used herbal product in China, other Asian countries, and the United States as an immune stimulant to be taken on first clinical signs of infection. In this study, the innate effects of goldenseal and Astragalus on pro-inflammatory cytokines produced by cultured macrophages were examined using two different commercial preparations of goldenseal and Astragalus. Both goldenseal and Astragalus were found to exhibit little to no direct effect on stimulation of mouse macrophages (J774A.1 cells), with only Astragalus able to affect production of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha when used in high concentrations. However, both goldenseal and Astragalus were able to modify responses from lipopolysaccharide-stimulated macrophages, with identified immunomodulatory effects to reduce production of TNF-alpha, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10, and IL-12 in a dose-dependent manner. The results obtained indicate that both goldenseal and Astragalus exhibit abilities to modulate macrophage responses during stimulation. Therefore, it is hypothesized that their historical use as therapeutic agents may be due to reduction in the pro-inflammatory response that indirectly leads to limiting of clinical symptoms during infection. Both products differ in their immune stimulatory patterns, offering insight into differential use and therapeutic potential of these products to regulate macrophage immune responses and activation events.
白毛茛（北美黄连）是一种原产于美国的药用植物，用作免疫刺激剂。黄芪在中国、其他亚洲国家和美国是一种广泛使用的草药产品，作为免疫刺激剂，在感染的最初临床症状出现时服用。在本研究中，使用两种不同的白毛茛和黄芪商业制剂，研究了白毛茛和黄芪对培养的巨噬细胞产生的促炎细胞因子的固有作用。发现白毛茛和黄芪对小鼠巨噬细胞（J774A.1细胞）的刺激几乎没有直接作用，只有黄芪在高浓度使用时能够影响肿瘤坏死因子（TNF）-α的产生。然而，白毛茛和黄芪都能够改变脂多糖刺激的巨噬细胞的反应，具有确定的免疫调节作用，以剂量依赖的方式减少TNF-α、白细胞介素（IL）-6、IL-10和IL-12的产生。获得的结果表明，白毛茛和黄芪在刺激过程中均表现出调节巨噬细胞反应的能力。因此，据推测，它们作为治疗剂的历史用途可能是由于促炎反应的减少，这间接导致感染期间临床症状的减轻。这两种产品的免疫刺激模式不同，为了解这些产品调节巨噬细胞免疫反应和激活事件的不同用途和治疗潜力提供了线索。
