Immunosuppressive effects of an ethyl acetate extract from Urtica dentata Hand on skin allograft rejection.

J Ethnopharmacol

Hubei Key Laboratory of Natural Medicinal Chemistry and Resources Evaluation, School of Pharmacy, Tongji Medical College, HuaZhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.

Published: October 2009

Aim Of The Study: To investigate the immunosuppressive effects of HPLC qualitied ethyl acetate extract (EAE) from Urtica dentate Hand on skin allograft rejection in a murine model.

Materials And Methods: Allo-skin transplantation model was established by placing skin allograft of C57BL/6 mice in the wound bed which was on the back of Balb/c mice. We used FACS to study the effects of EAE on dendritic cells (DCs) maturation and CD4(+)CD25(+)T regulatory cells (Tregs) differentiation. We also studied spleen lymphocyte proliferation and T-bet gene expression in DCs. Concentration of Th1/Th2 cytokines was monitored as markers of Th1/Th2 responses by ELISA.

Results: A significant prolongation of skin allografts survival was observed as a dose-dependent manner in the animals treated with EAE. By FACS, we found that treatment with EAE (200 mg kg(-1)) resulted in an immature statement of DCs and stimulated the differentiation of CD4(+)CD25(+)Tregs. Additionally, the expression of T-bet gene and the proliferation of spleen lymphocytes were efficiently abated in EAE treated mice. Comparing to the model control, EAE-treated recipients showed a significant down-regulation (P<0.01) of Th1 cytokines (IL-2, IFN-gamma) and an obviously increase (P<0.01) of Th2 cytokine (IL-10) in the serum, which presented in a dose-related way.

Conclusions: The anti-allograft rejection effect of EAE by enhancing CD4(+)CD25(+)Tregs differentiation and sustaining DCs immaturation makes EAE to be a possible choice for treating autoimmune diseases in a way of inducing a stable immunological tolerance state.

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2009.08.011DOI Listing

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