Abstract
Astragalus membranaceus (AM), a traditional Chinese medicinal herb, has immunoregulatory properties in many diseases. We investigated the effects and mechanism of Astragalus membranaceus extract (AME) in the macrophage migration and immune response mediator release. The viability of Ana-1 macrophages treated with AME was evaluated by the MTT method. The secretion and mRNA levels of IL-1β and TNF-α were measured by ELISA and RT-PCR, respectively. Macrophage migration was assayed by transwell assay. The activity of heparanase (HPA) was determined by a heparin-degrading enzyme assay. Our results didn’t show any toxicity of AME in macrophages. AME increased the activity of HPA, cell migration, mRNA levels and secretion of IL-1β and TNF-α in macrophages. Pretreatment with anti-HPA antibody reduced cell migration, secretion of IL-1β and TNF-α did not change the mRNA levels of IL-1β and TNF-α significantly in AME-treated macrophages. This suggests that AME may increase the release of immune response mediator and cell migration via HPA to activate immune response in macrophages.
Highlights
Astragalus membranaceus (AM), a herbal remedy in Traditional Chinese Medicine, possesses the immunoregulatory properties [1,2]
Based on these previous reports, we speculated that HPA may be a key regulator of migration and immune response mediator in macrophages, so we examined the role of HPA in the Astragalus membranaceus extract (AME)-induced migration and expression of some immune response mediators, TNF- and IL-1β, to evaluate the immunoregulatory effects and mechanism of AME in macrophages
We tested the cytotoxicity of AME in macrophages by the MTT assay
Summary
Astragalus membranaceus (AM), a herbal remedy in Traditional Chinese Medicine, possesses the immunoregulatory properties [1,2]. Induction of HPA in several inflammatory conditions was reported, associated with degradation of HS, remodeling of the extracellular matrix (ECM), facilitating the inflammatory cell migration towards the injury sites and releasing of chemokines anchored within the ECM network and cell surfaces [7]. Based on these previous reports, we speculated that HPA may be a key regulator of migration and immune response mediator in macrophages, so we examined the role of HPA in the AME-induced migration and expression of some immune response mediators, TNF- and IL-1β, to evaluate the immunoregulatory effects and mechanism of AME in macrophages
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