Experimental Study of Yongdamsagantang on the Anti-viral Activity and Immune Response to Mice

龍膽瀉肝湯의 抗바이러스 活性 및 免疫反應에 對한 實驗的 考察

During the last few years, nitric oxide(NO) as a potent macrophage-derived effector molecule against a variety of bacteria, parasites, and tumors has received increasing attention. More recent studies suggest that NO also has antiviral effects in both murine and human cells. The objective of the current study was to determine the effect of Yongdamsagantang(YST) on the production of NO. Stimulation of mouse peritoneal macrophages with YST after the treatment of recombinant $interferon-{\gammer}(rlFN-{\gammer})$ resulted in the increased NO synthesis. YST had no effect on NO synthesis by itself. When YST was used in combination with $rIFN-{\gammer}$, there was a marked cooperative induction of NO synthesis in a dose-dependent manner. The optimal effect of YST on NO synthesis was shown 6 hour after treatment with $rIFN-{\gammer}$. This increase in NO synthesis was reflected as increased amount of inducible NO synthase(iNOS) protein. NO production was inhibited by $N^G-monomethyl-L-arginine$. The increased production of NO from $rIFN-{\gammer}$ plus YST-stimulated cells was decreased by the treatment with staurosporin. In addition, synergy between $rIFN-{\gammer}$ and YST was mainly dependent on YST-induced tumor necrosis $factor-{\alpha}(TNF-{\alpha})$ secretion. These results suggest that the capacity of YST to increase NO production from $rIFN-{\alpha}-primed$ mouse peritoneal macrophages is the result of YST-induced $TNF-{\alpha}$ secretion.