Enhanced DNA repair, immune function and reduced toxicity of C-MED-100™, a novel aqueous extract from Uncaria tomentosa

Abstract

Female W/Fu rats were gavaged daily with a water-soluble extract (C-MED-100™) of Uncaria tomentosa supplied commercially by CampaMed at the doses of 0, 5, 10, 20, 40 and 80 mg/kg for 8 consecutive weeks. Phytohemagglutinin (PHA) stimulated lymphocyte proliferation was significantly increased in splenocytes of rats treated at the doses of 40 and 80 mg/kg. White blood cells (WBC) from the C-MED-100™ treatment groups of 40 and 80 mg/kg for 8 weeks or 160 mg/kg for 4 weeks were significantly elevated compared with controls ( P<0.05). In a human volunteer study, C-MED-100™ was given daily at 5 mg/kg for 6 consecutive weeks to four healthy adult males. No toxicity was observed and again, WBC were significantly elevated ( P<0.05) after supplement. Repair of DNA single strand breaks (SSB) and double strand breaks (DSB) 3 h after 12 Gy whole body irradiation of rats were also significantly improved in C-MED-100™ treated animals ( P<0.05). The LD 50 and MTD of a single oral dose of C-MED-100™ in the rat were observed to be greater than 8 g/kg. Although the rats were treated daily with U. tomentosa extracts at the doses of 10–80 mg/kg for 8 weeks or 160 mg/kg for 4 weeks, no acute or chronic toxicity signs were observed symptomatically. In addition, no body weight, food consumption, organ weight and kidney, liver, spleen, and heart pathological changes were found to be associated with C-MED-100™ treatment.