In this study, the immunomodulatory effect of a triply standardized Echinacea angustifolia root extract(Polinacea®) was evaluated in 10 healthy subjects. Ten ml of syrup containing one hundred mg of extract(corresponding to 4.7 mg of Echinacoside and 8.0 mg of a high molecular weight-20,000 Da- polysaccha-ride) were administered as a herbal syrup once a day for one month. The immunomodulatory effect wasevaluated before and after herbal syrup administration evaluating the expression levels of the cytokinesIL-2, IL-8, IL-6 and TNF- . Cytokine expression was studied in lympho-monocytes and in plasma sam-ples measuring the mRNA and protein levels, respectively. The results were analysed by ANOVA andnon-parametric Friedman rank sum tests; when possible it was adopted a pair-wise comparisons at dif-ferent post-treatment times, using the paired t-tests with Holm correction. The correlation between thevariations of cytokine plasma levels and the respective mRNA was carried out using a linear regressionmodel.In lympho-monocytes our data indicate the up-regulation of the mRNA levels of IL-2 and IL-8 and thedown regulation of the mRNA levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF- and IL6. The differentialregulation was maximal after 14 days of treatment. IL-2 up-regulation and IL-6 down-regulation werealso confirmed at the protein level in plasma. Finally, the up-regulation of the mRNA of IL-2/IL-8 and thedown-regulation of IL-6 positively correlated with the protein levels detected in the plasma.In conclusion, this pilot study suggests a relevant role for the standardized Echinacea angustifolia rootextract in the control of cytokine expression. This first demonstration of the immuno-modulating activityof Echinacea angustifolia root extract in the healthy subject, supports at least in part the common use ofsuch products as health promoting supplement.
Immunomodulation mediated by a herbal syrup containing astandardized Echinacea root extract: A pilot study in healthy humansubjects on cytokine gene expression
DAPAS, BARBARA;BULLA, ROBERTA;AGOSTINIS, CHIARA;PERISSUTTI, Beatrice;GRASSI, GABRIELE;VOINOVICH, DARIO
2014
Abstract
In this study, the immunomodulatory effect of a triply standardized Echinacea angustifolia root extract(Polinacea®) was evaluated in 10 healthy subjects. Ten ml of syrup containing one hundred mg of extract(corresponding to 4.7 mg of Echinacoside and 8.0 mg of a high molecular weight-20,000 Da- polysaccha-ride) were administered as a herbal syrup once a day for one month. The immunomodulatory effect wasevaluated before and after herbal syrup administration evaluating the expression levels of the cytokinesIL-2, IL-8, IL-6 and TNF- . Cytokine expression was studied in lympho-monocytes and in plasma sam-ples measuring the mRNA and protein levels, respectively. The results were analysed by ANOVA andnon-parametric Friedman rank sum tests; when possible it was adopted a pair-wise comparisons at dif-ferent post-treatment times, using the paired t-tests with Holm correction. The correlation between thevariations of cytokine plasma levels and the respective mRNA was carried out using a linear regressionmodel.In lympho-monocytes our data indicate the up-regulation of the mRNA levels of IL-2 and IL-8 and thedown regulation of the mRNA levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF- and IL6. The differentialregulation was maximal after 14 days of treatment. IL-2 up-regulation and IL-6 down-regulation werealso confirmed at the protein level in plasma. Finally, the up-regulation of the mRNA of IL-2/IL-8 and thedown-regulation of IL-6 positively correlated with the protein levels detected in the plasma.In conclusion, this pilot study suggests a relevant role for the standardized Echinacea angustifolia rootextract in the control of cytokine expression. This first demonstration of the immuno-modulating activityof Echinacea angustifolia root extract in the healthy subject, supports at least in part the common use ofsuch products as health promoting supplement.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
