Immunotropic effect of medicinal plants with different microelemental composition

Abstract

Increasing use of raw materials from medicinal plant is due to the fact that the natural compounds may be preferred to synthetic ones by, generally, low toxicity, absence of side effects and addiction. Over recent decades, much attention has been paid to the study of immunotropic and antioxidant effect of medicinal plants, as well as to analysis of their trace element composition, since the action of the main biologically active substances is often manifested in combination with the natural mineral composition of the plant. The aim of the present work was to assess immunotropic effect of aqueous extracts of officinal medicinal raw materials and to analyze their trace element composition. The objects of the study were water extracts (1:10) from industrial samples of 11 types of raw materials (black currant leaves (Ribes nigrum L.), yarrow herb (Achillea millefolium L.), licorice roots (Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.), Flowers of the sand immortelle (Helichrysum arenarium (L.) Moench), St. John's wort (Nurericum perforatum), wild strawberry leaves (Fragaria vesca L.), wild bird cherry (Padus avium Mill.), blood-red hawthorn (Crataegus sangunea Mill.) (Tanacetum flowers) vulgare L.), common chicory root (Cich rium ntybus Fisch.) and oat grass (Avena sativa L.) supplied to the network of pharmacies in Orenburg. Immunotropic effects of raw plant materials were evaluated in a model of adaptive immunity cells, by their ability to induce production of cytokines: IL-1β, TNFα and IL-10. The level of cytokines (IL-1β, TNFα, and IL-10) were assessed using ELISA (Cytokin, St. Petersburg, Russia). Elemental composition of raw material samples was determined by mass spectrometry with inductively coupled plasma using the ELAN-DRC-e device (PerkinElmer SCIEX, USA). Analysis of immunotropic activity of aqueous extracts from officinal medicinal plants showed that the majority of plant raw materials are characterized by a suppressive effect both upon pro-inflammatory mediators (TNFα, IL-1β), and the main anti-inflammatory cytokine (IL-10). In contrast, aqueous extracts of yarrow, oats and chicory were characterized by a selective immunomodulatory effect aimed at suppressing only inflammatory mediators. A tendency has been established for a significant accumulation of such biologically important trace elements as Zn, Mn, Fe and Cu in medicinal plants, which can determine their biological activity, and allows them to be considered as promising components at the stage of developing drugs that both exert immunotropic effect, and are a source of microelements.