In vitro treatment of chicken peripheral blood lymphocytes, macrophages, and tumor cells with extracts of Korean medicinal plants

Sung-Hyen Lee; Hyun Soon Lillehoj; Hye-Kyung Chun; Wenbin Tuo; Hong-Ju Park; Soo-Muk Cho; Young-Min Lee; Erik P Lillehoj

doi:10.1016/j.nutres.2007.04.001

In vitro treatment of chicken peripheral blood lymphocytes, macrophages, and tumor cells with extracts of Korean medicinal plants

Nutr Res. 2007 Jun;27(6):362-366. doi: 10.1016/j.nutres.2007.04.001. Epub 2007 Jun 26.

Authors

Sung-Hyen Lee¹, Hyun Soon Lillehoj², Hye-Kyung Chun³, Wenbin Tuo⁴, Hong-Ju Park⁵, Soo-Muk Cho⁵, Young-Min Lee⁵, Erik P Lillehoj⁶

Affiliations

¹ National Rural Resources Development Institute, National Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology, Rural Development Administration, Suwon 441-853, South Korea; Animal and Natural Resources Institute, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, United States Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Research Service, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA.
² Animal and Natural Resources Institute, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, United States Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Research Service, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA. Electronic address: elillehoj@peds.umaryland.edu.
³ National Rural Resources Development Institute, National Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology, Rural Development Administration, Suwon 441-853, South Korea. Electronic address: chunhk@rda.go.kr.
⁴ Animal and Natural Resources Institute, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, United States Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Research Service, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA.
⁵ National Rural Resources Development Institute, National Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology, Rural Development Administration, Suwon 441-853, South Korea.
⁶ Department of Pediatrics, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.

PMID: 32726895
DOI: 10.1016/j.nutres.2007.04.001

Abstract

A variety of different medicinal plants have traditionally been used in Asian cultures as medicinal plants to enhance immunity and treat cancers. However, limited information exists on the underlying mechanisms responsible for these immune enhancing properties. The current investigation was conducted to examine the effects of methanol extracts of 3 Korean indigenous plants (dandelion root, mustard leaf, and safflower leaf) on various in vitro parameters of innate immunity (peripheral blood lymphocyte proliferation, nitric oxide production by macrophages, and free radical scavenging activity) and tumor cell growth. All plant extracts inhibited tumor cell growth and exerted antioxidant effects compared with vehicle controls. In addition, safflower leaf extract stimulated lymphocyte proliferation and mustard leaf induced nitric oxide production. These results demonstrate, for the first time, that traditional Korean medicinal plant extracts are effective in enhancing innate immunity and suppressing tumor cell growth.

Keywords: Antioxidant; Immunomodulation; Lymphocyte; Macrophage; Medicinal plants; Tumor.