The Immune-Enhancing Effect of the Herbal Combination Bouum-Myunyuk-Dan

• Published in: Biological & Pharmaceutical Bulletin Vol. 27; no. 1; pp. 29 - 33
• Main Authors: Jeong, Hyun-Ja, Chung, Hwan-Suck, An, Hyo-Jin, Seo, Sang-Wan, Kim, Tae-gyun, Won, Jin-Hee, Shin, Jo-Young, Ahn, Kyoo-Seok, Kim, Hyung-Min
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Japanese
• Published: Japan The Pharmaceutical Society of Japan 2004; Pharmaceutical Society of Japan; Japan Science and Technology Agency
• Subjects: Adjuvants, Immunologic; Animals; Bouum-Myunyuk-Dan; Cell Division - drug effects; Cell Line; Cell Survival; Cytokines - biosynthesis; Drugs, Chinese Herbal - pharmacology; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Humans; In Vitro Techniques; Indicators and Reagents; interferon-γ; interleukin-12; interleukin-2; interleukin-4; Lymphocytes - drug effects; Lymphocytes - immunology; Macrophages, Peritoneal - drug effects; Macrophages, Peritoneal - metabolism; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Spleen - cytology; Spleen - drug effects; Spleen - immunology; tumor necrosis factor-α
• ISSN: 0918-6158; 1347-5215
• DOI: 10.1248/bpb.27.29

The herbal formulation Bouum-Myunyuk-Dan (BMD) has long been used for various diseases. It has been shown to have antimicrobial and anti viral activity clinically. However, it is still unclear how BMD exerts these effects in experimental models. In this study, we investigated the effect of BMD on the production of cytokines in a human T cell line, MOLT-4 cells, and in mouse peritoneal macrophages. As a result, BMD significantly increased the viability and proliferation of splenocytes (p<0.05) and also significantly increased interleukin (IL)-2 and IL-4 production compared with media control (about 2.7-fold for IL-2 and 6.7-fold for IL-4, p<0.05) after 24 h. BMD increased the interferon (IFN)-γ production by 3.7-fold but there were no significant differences compared with controls. Maximal effective concentrations of BMD were 1 mg/ml for IL-2 and IL-4 and 0.1 mg/ml for IFN-γ. In addition, BMD (0.01 mg/ml) increased the production of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and IL-12 in mouse peritoneal macrophages (by 2.7-fold for TNF-α and 42.5-fold for IL-12, p<0.05). In conclusion, these data indicate that BMD may have an immune-enhancing effect through the production of various cytokines.