Immunostimulating activity of the hot water-soluble polysaccharide extracts of Anacyclus pyrethrum, Alpinia galanga and Citrullus colocynthis

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-8741(03)00226-5Get rights and content

Abstract

Hot water polysaccharide extracts of Anacyclus pyrethrum (L.) Link. (family Compositae) Citrullus colocynthis (L.) Schrad. (family Cucurbitaceae) and Alpinia galanga (L.) Willd. (family Zingiberaceae) were tested for their immunostimulating activity in mice. The fractions from Anacyclus pyrethrum and Alpinia galanga showed a marked stimulating effect on the reticulo-endothelial system (RES) and increased the number of peritoneal exudate cells (PEC), and spleen cells of mice. In this case, the optimum doses were 50 and 25 mg/kg for the two fractions, respectively. On the other hand, the polysaccharide extracts of both Anacyclus pyrethrum and Alpinia galanga markedly enhanced the proliferation of the murine spleen cells in vitro using two tests (in vitro and in vivo effect). The results of the in vivo effect at a doses of 50 and 25 mg/kg, showed a stimulation index better than obtained with the in vitro effect at 50 and 25 μg/ml for Anacyclus pyrethrum and Alpinia galanga, respectively. While the extract of Citrullus colocynthis showed much weaker and variable immunostimulating activity.

Introduction

Anacyclus pyrethrum (L.) Link. (family Compositae), Alpinia galanga (L.) Willd. (family Zingaberaceae) and Citrullus colocynthis (L.) Schrad. (family Cucurbitaceae) are widely used in folk remedies for several diseases.

The roots of Anacyclus pyrethrum are used to stimulate salivary glands, to cure chronic catarrh of the head and nostrils and to clear the brain by exciting a free flow of nasal mucous, tears and by stimulating the blood flow to the tissues (Grieve, 1989, Brown, 1995). The rhizomes of Alpinia galanga treat problems associated with the digestive system (Grieve, 1989, Brown, 1995, Xia, 1989), and relieve bronchitis, measles, rubella and cholera (Bremness, 1953) and the Citrullus colocynthis figures into remedies for cancer, breast inflammation, adenopathy, anemia, fever, ulcers, bronchitis and several other diseases (Duke, 1985, Evans, 1989).

Traditional medicine in Algeria has for centuries used the roots of Anacyclus pyrethrum and Alpinia galanga for the treatment of respiratory infections and the fruits of Citrullus colocynthis for diabetes, cancer and to treat the hemorrhoids.

Several studies have shown that therapeutic activity of various extracts of higher plants may be mediated by interaction with the host’s immune system (Wagner and Proksch, 1984, Franz, 1989, Wagner, 1990) and the polysaccharides may in part contribute to their medical use (Franz, 1989, Flandroy, 1996).

Our present study was undertaken to examine the effect of the polysaccharide extracts obtained by hot water extraction from the given species on the immune system, in order to clarify their biological activity.

Section snippets

Plant material

The roots of Anacyclus pyrethrum, rhizomes of Alpinia galanga and fruits of Citrullus colocynthis were harvested from the region of Constantine (north-east of Algeria), the Hoggar region (south of Algeria) and Ouargla region (south of Algeria), respectively. The samples were separated, thoroughly washed with tap water and ethanol, air dried and finely powdered.

Extraction

The root powders (150 g of each) and the dried powdered fruit (100 g) were separately suspended in distilled water at the rate of 1 g

Biological activity

The phagocytic activity of the reticulo-endothelial system (RES) of mice was determined by the carbon clearance test. As shown in Table 1, there was a marked increase in the response after administration of HWSPEs of Anacyclus pyrethrum and Alpinia galanga at doses of 25, 50 mg/kg and 10, 25, 50 mg/kg, respectively. For these doses the stimulation index was more than 1 and the half-life period t1/2 of the carbon in the blood differed significantly from the control value when no polysaccharide was

Conclusion

The present study showed that hot water-soluble polysaccharide extracts from the roots of Anacyclus pyrethrum and Alpinia galanga exerted a strong enhancement of the blood elimination of carbon particles and increased the number of cells in the peritoneal cavity. On the other hand, the HWSPEs increased the number of the spleen cells, this effect was due to their mitogenic effect on the lymphocytes. In conclusion, it appeared that the polysaccharide fractions from the two medicinal plants

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Dr. Washington, R.J. (Salford University, UK) for his help, advice and his critical review of the manuscript and to Professor Khalfallah, N. (Constantine University, Algeria) for her help for the identification of the plants.

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