Abstract
Sutherlandia frutescens is a medicinal plant that has been traditionally used in southern Africa for cancers, infections, and inflammatory conditions. We recently published experiments demonstrating that an aqueous extract of S. frutescens possessed potent immune-stimulatory activity. This work was carried out with murine macrophages, an immune cell type that plays a pivotal role in host defense from infection and in shaping host inflammatory and immune responses. Here, we conducted a series of follow-up experiments to explore the impact of consuming S. frutescens on host response to bacterial challenge using healthy mice. We found that feeding mice a diet containing S. frutescens failed to significantly alter host response to systemic infection by either a gram-positive or gram-negative bacterium (i.e., L. monocytogenes and E. coli, respectively). In contrast to the in vitro observations, we found no evidence that S. frutescens consumption stimulated in vivo inflammatory responses; instead, consumption of S. frutescens tended to diminish in vivo inflammatory responses. Several possible reasons for this are discussed.
Highlights
We used a murine macrophage cell line and primary murine macrophages to demonstrate that extracts of S. frutescens have potent immune-stimulatory activities.[1]
Note a trend (p < 0.08) for a modestly lower burden (~0.5 log10) of L. monocytogenes in the livers of male BALB/c mice fed the 0.25% S. frutescens diets compared with the mice fed the control (0% SF) or 1% S. frutescens diets (Fig 1C)
Similar to our results examining in vivo host response to a L. monocytogenes infection, we found that dietary S. frutescens failed to modulate the host response to a challenge with a common gram-negative organism, E. coli
Summary
We used a murine macrophage cell line and primary murine macrophages to demonstrate that extracts of S. frutescens have potent immune-stimulatory activities.[1]. Both ROS and NO play critical roles in host defense to infection.[4,5,6] the aqueous extract and polysaccharides-enriched fractions of S. frutescens activated NF-κB signaling in murine macrophages resulting in an increased
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.