Department of Biochemical Science and Technology, National Chiayi University, Taiwan.
Am J Chin Med. 2010;38(1):173-90. doi: 10.1142/S0192415X10007749.
The Chinese medicinal herbs Radix Isatidis and Viola yedoensis Makino have been suggested to possess antiviral activity. This study tests whether these and other Chinese and Western herbal medicinal formulas can modulate the immune functions involving virus-suppression in BALB/c mouse. We first confirmed the extract from Viola yedoensis Makino, but not from Radix Isatidis, the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula Chui-Uren-Chien (CUC), or a Western homeopathic medicinal drink Método Canova, could inhibit the replications of herpes simplex virus-1 and enterovirus 71 in the human neuroblastoma SK-N-SH cell line. Subsequently, the same herbal extracts and drink underwent toxicity and immunomodulatory tests on mice of 5-7 weeks old. After 8 weeks of feeding different herbal medicinal formulas, no hepatic or renal toxicity was noted in any tested animal; whereas among the immune function evaluations, only the mice treated with CUC extract were found to be associated with significant increases (p < 0.05) in both the level of plasma IgG and the percentage of monocyte in blood mononuclear cells as well as the activation of macrophage Raw264.7 cells for nitric oxide production, suggesting its role in modulating the non-specific immune response. Analyses using protein arrays showed CUC was the most potent herbal medicinal formula eliciting fluctuations in plasma cytokine and chemokine concentrations. Taking all experimental data together, we conclude Chui-Uren-Chien possesses immunomodulatory capability in mouse, but none of the herbal medicinal formulas tested here are involved in strengthening antiviral immunity.
中药板蓝根和紫花地丁被认为具有抗病毒活性。本研究旨在测试这些及其他中西方草药配方是否能调节涉及抑制病毒的免疫功能，实验对象为 BALB/c 小鼠。我们首先证实了紫花地丁而非板蓝根、中药处方垂仁煎（CUC）或西方顺势疗法药物 Método Canova 能抑制单纯疱疹病毒-1 和肠道病毒 71 在人神经母细胞瘤 SK-N-SH 细胞系中的复制。随后，我们对 5-7 周龄的小鼠进行了相同的草药提取物和饮料的毒性和免疫调节测试。8 周后，用不同的草药配方喂养不同的小鼠，未发现任何动物出现肝或肾毒性；在免疫功能评估中，只有接受 CUC 提取物处理的小鼠表现出显著变化（p < 0.05），包括血浆 IgG 水平和单核细胞在血液单核细胞中的百分比以及巨噬细胞 Raw264.7 细胞产生一氧化氮的活性增加，表明其在调节非特异性免疫反应中发挥作用。蛋白质芯片分析显示，CUC 是引起血浆细胞因子和趋化因子浓度波动的最有效的草药配方。综合所有实验数据，我们得出结论，垂仁煎具有调节小鼠免疫功能的能力，但这里测试的草药配方都没有增强抗病毒免疫的作用。
