Abstract
Echinacea purpurea has been widely used for the prevention and treatment of upper respiratory tract infections and the common cold. The restraint stress has been reported to suppress a broad spectrum of immune functions. The aim of this study was to investigate the protective effects of the pressed juice of E. purpurea (L.) Moench (EFLA®894; Echinacea) against restraint stress-induced immunosuppression in BALB/c mice. Echinacea significantly normalized the restraint stress-induced reduction in splenocyte proliferation and splenic natural killer (NK) cell activity (P < .05). Echinacea treatment significantly increased the percentages of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes in the blood (P < .05). In addition, Echinacea restored serum cytokine levels, including interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-10 (IL-10), and interleukin-17 (IL-17), as well as the mRNA expressions of these cytokines in spleen (P < .05). Our findings suggest that Echinacea might have beneficial effects on restraint stress-induced immunosuppression by increasing splenocyte proliferation and NK cell activity, while modulating T lymphocyte subsets and cytokine levels in the blood.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 261-268 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Journal of Medicinal Food |
Volume | 21 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Mar 2018 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was supported by the Frutarom, Switzerland; Novarex, Republic of Korea; and PRogram for Industrial needs - Matched Education (PRIME), Ewha Womans University funded by the Ministry of Education of Korea.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. and Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition.
Keywords
- Echinacea purpurea
- NK cell
- T lymphocyte
- cytokines
- immune
- restraint stress