Immunomodulatory potential of aqueous extract of Solanum xanthocarpum with reference to splenocyte proliferation and cytokines induction in Wistar albino rats

Limited study has been done so far to investigate immunomodulatory efficacy of whole plant of hot aqueous extract of Solanum xanthocarpum (HAESX) in Wistar albino rats. Present work has been designed to study immunomodulatory effect of HAESX in Wistar albino rat with respect to splenocyte proliferation and cytokines induction. Concanavalin A (Con A) activated splenocytes were used to measure in vitro cell mediated immune response using 3-(4, 5-Dimethylthiazolyl)-2, 5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) in the presence of varied doses of HAESX (20-500 μg/mL). The effects of HAESX on cell mediated immune response were studied using six groups of Wistar albino rats. Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), Interferon-γ (IFN-γ), Interleukin-10 (IL-10) and Interleukin-4 (IL-4) were measured in splenocyte culture supernatant by sandwich ELISA with different concentrations of HAESX (20-500 μg/mL). Study depicts significant decrease (p<0.05) in the proliferation of Con A treated splenocyte at 250 and 500 μg/mL HAESX, reflecting cell mediated immunoinhibitory potential of HAESX. Dose dependent significant increase (p<0.01) in the amount of IL-10 was found in splenocyte culture supernatant with increase in HAESX concentrations. TNF-α, IFN-γ and IL-4 were found to decrease significantly (p<0.01) with increase in HAESX concentrations. Study revealed that HAESX of Solanum xanthocarpum is found to influence the networking of cytokines, implying that it may play a function in regulating the activity of the host's immune system and can serve as potent herbal drug against immune rejection.