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Lessertia frutescens (Sutherlandia), an African herb, modulates reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitric oxide (NO) generation by murine macrophages
Author(s) -
Lei Wei,
Browning Jimmy,
Eichen Peggy,
Lu Chi-Hua,
Folk William,
Fritsche Kevin
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.26.1_supplement.1027.9
Subject(s) - immune system , reactive oxygen species , nitric oxide , macrophage , biology , herb , traditional medicine , microbiology and biotechnology , immunology , in vitro , biochemistry , medicine , endocrinology , medicinal herbs
Lessertia frutescens (Sutherlandia) is a medicinal plant native to southern Africa and is currently in clinical trials as a co‐therapy for HIV/AIDS patients in South Africa. Our laboratory is investigating the immune‐modulatory activities of this herb. In these experiments we sought to better characterize the impact of Sutherlandia on ROS and NO generation by macrophages. Various concentrations of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of Sutherlandia were cultured with a murine macrophage cell line (i.e., RAW 264.7 cells). Surprisingly, we found that the aqueous extract significantly enhanced (i.e., more than doubling) basal and immune‐stimulated ROS generation by RAW cells. In contrast, the ethanolic extract consistently decreased ROS production by as much as 30%. Similar results were observed when primary peritoneal macrophages from BALB/c mice were used instead of the macrophage cell line. The impact of Sutherlandia on macrophage NO production was generally similar to our findings with ROS, however, the ability of the aqueous extract to stimulate NO production was much more modest than its impact on ROS. Our results suggest that Sutherlandia possesses immune‐modulating components that can both stimulate and inhibit critical functions of phagocytes. The net effect of this herb on the immune system may depend upon how it is prepared as well as which part of the immune response one investigates.