Urtica dioica alcoholic extract increases the cell-mediated innate immune potential in chickens

Abstract

Active principles from stinging nettle (Urtica dioica), a wide spread herbaceous perennial flowering plant, are well known for their anti-oxidative, anti-microbial, anti-ulcer and anesthetic capacity. This study aimed to investigate the in vivo and in vitro effects of a commercial alcoholic stinging nettle extract in 38 days old chickens on the non-specific immunity. The birds were divided in three equal groups (n=10) and subjected to sc treatments on days 0 and 7, as follows: 0.5ml saline/chicken (I—control); 0.5ml 70° alcohol/chicken, (II—solvent control); 0.5ml alcoholic nettle extract/chicken (III—treated group). Total leukocyte counts and carbon particle inclusion test to estimate the in vitro phagocytic activity were performed on whole blood sampled on days 0, 7 and 14.Alcoholic nettle plant extract significantly (p<0.05) increased the total leukocyte numbers, from 15,400±3,005/mm3 to 17,125±2,813/mm3, when compared to groups I (16,667±1,807/mm3 to 16,475±2,098/mm3) and II (17,555±2,098/mm3 to 16,875±1,966/mm3). Similarly, the nettle extract treatment significantly enhanced (p<0.01) the in vitro functional capacity of the phagocytes over time for the first (0–30min, 0.347±0.07–1.464±0.06) but not the second (30–40min, 0.196±0.05–0.223±0.06) tested time interval. These results supported the beneficial biological effect of the in vivo alcoholic nettle extract treatment on the innate immune response, which could lead to a higher resistance to diseases and improved post vaccination response of the birds, thus reducing the economic losses.