A Pharmacologic Study on the Mechanism of Action of Kakkon-to: Body Temperature Elevation and Phagocytic Activation of Macrophages in Dogs

Abstract

The phagocytic activity of macrophages as a novel approach to scientific elucidation of the effects of Chinese medicines was studied through administration of a kampo preparation, by measuring the rise in body temperature, which is thought to stimulate innate defensive functions of organisms and enhance the immune systems. Using dogs as experimental models, a rise in body temperature following administration of Kakkon-to was observed, and the average number and average rate of phagocytosis of macrophages in blood using latex micro-particles was investigated. The body temperature of the treated animals significantly increased 30 minutes after administration (p<0.01), and remained elevated for more than 5 hours. A comparison of body temperatures before and after administration showed significant increases over controls from 1 to 11 hours, p<0.01; and at 12 hours, p<0.05 after administration. The average number and the average rate of phagocytosis were significantly increased 1 (p<0.05) and 2 (p<0.01) hours after administration. The mean number of phagocytized cells significantly increased (p<0.05) at 1 hour after administration compared with that before administration, and the mean phagocytic rate also increased significantly (p<0.01) 2 hours after administration. Increases (p<0.01) in both the rate of phagocytosis and the number of cells phagocytized were found at every measurement point from 2 to 24 hours after administration. Significant increases (p<0.01) were also observed in both the rate of phagocytosis and the number of cells phagocytized 3 hours after administration, when compared with the control group. This paper demonstrates that ingestion of Kakkon-to not only increases the body temperature but also enhances the phagocytic activity of macrophages, an in vivo defense mechanism, suggesting that Kakkon-to contributes to the suppression of multiplication of common cold viruses and influenza viruses, which consequently results in improvement of various symptoms during infection with common cold viruses.