Volume 102, January 2016, Pages 26–32
Immunomodulatory effects of Umakhonya®: A South African commercial traditional immune booster
Highlights
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- We evaluated the cytotoxicity and immunomodulatory properties of a local commercially available traditional medicine using THP-1 monocytes.
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- High concentrations of this product were significantly cytotoxicity.
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- Lower non-cytotoxic doses increased chemokines secretion in normal THP-1 cells accompanied by increased NF-κβ activity at the lowest dose.
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- LPS stimulated THP-1 cells did not show a significant change in chemokines secretion with no significant increase in NF-κβ activity.
Abstract
South
Africa is currently experiencing an increase in the number of
traditional medicine preparations which purport to have immune boosting
effects. This is largely related to the high prevalence of HIV
infections. This study therefore aimed to evaluate the possible
immunomodulatory mechanisms of uMakhonya®, one of the widely used commercial immune boosters, using THP-1 monocyte cells. Endotoxin-free doses of uMakhonya®
ranging from 1000 μg/mL to 10 μg/mL were used to evaluate the cytotoxic
effects, cell migration, secretion of twelve different chemokines and
possible modulation of nuclear factor kappa Beta (NF-κβ) transcriptional
activity. This commercial traditional medicine product was shown to
induce dose dependent cytotoxicity with high doses significantly (p < 0.05) cytotoxic to monocytes (IC50
of 100.08 and 107.68 μg/mL for normal and LPS stimulated THP-1 cells
respectively) when compared to untreated cells. The lower doses were
shown to have no significant (p > 0.05) chemo-attractant effects in the cell migration assay. UMakhonya® at these lower and less cytotoxic doses induced a significant (p < 0.05)
increase in secretion of chemokines in unstimulated THP-1 cells when
compared to untreated and cyclosporine treated cells. In LPS-stimulated
THP-1 cells only MIP-1β secretion was significantly increased by both
100 and 10 μg/mL. In both unstimulated and LPS-stimulated THP-1 cells
the lowest dose of uMakhonya® increased transcriptional activity of NF-κβ which may explain the increase in chemokines secretion. Therefore this in vitro study showed that uMakhonya®
is cytotoxic at high doses, did not show any chemo-attractant effects
and induced significant increases in chemokines secretion. Increased
transcriptional activity of NF-κβ in treated cells may contribute to
increased chemokines secretion. This study on uMakhonya® should form the benchmark for the research of the high number of related products that are sold commercially in South Africa.
Keywords
- Immunomodulation;
- Traditional medicines;
- Cytotoxicity;
- Cell migration;
- Chemokines
Copyright © 2015 South African Association of Botanists. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
