[Effect of icariin on intermediate and advanced activation of murine T lymphocytes in vitro].

AIM

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.

CONCLUSION

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.