Protective Activity of a Polyherbal Formulation in Cyclophosphamide-Induced Immunosuppression

Abstract

A previous study reported on the immunostimulatory activity of a polyherbal formulation (PHF). However, its potential in immunosuppression is unknown. This murine study evaluates the protective activity of aqueous extract of the PHF in cyclophosphamide (CP)-induced immunosuppression. The PHF consists of Acacia polyacantha, Acacia senegal, Adansonia digitata, Allium sativum and Bauhinia rufescens. The study was conducted on 20 rats in four groups: normal saline group, negative control, treatment control group, and experiment group. Delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) response, keyhole limpet haemocyanin (KLH)-IgG, serum IFN-γ, and IL-4 were measured using digital Vernier calliper and sandwich ELISA, respectively. Histology of liver, thymus, and bone marrow was examined. No significant difference was observed between treatment control and experimental groups in DTH response (p > 0.05). No significant difference prevailed in the mean concentration of KLH-IgG from PHF treatment group to CP treatment group in the experiment (p = 0.48). Also, the serum IFN-γ level in the PHF-treatment group was not statistically different from the CP-treatment group (p = 0.293). The serum level of IL-4 in the PHF-treatment group was also not significantly different from that of the CP-treatment group (p = 0.139). The histology of PHF treated group showed similar features to that of normal and treatment controls. The formulation has demonstrated good protective ability in cyclophosphamide-induced immunosuppressed rats.