• CELLMED
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.24.1-24.6
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• 2020

Kushta Jast (KJ) is a unique herbo-mineral preparation of the Unani System of Medicine (USM) which is prepared by taklis (calcination) and prescribed by the practitioners of USM for the treatment of various ailments, including the respiratory ailments. It is used as muqawwi (tonic) to boost the immunity (Muqawwi-i-badan), and can increase the phagocyte activity of the immune cells, thereby, promoting the growth and spread of lymphocytes and increasing circulating antibodies to neutralize a harmful pathogen and reduce humma or body fever (Dafi'-i-humma). Incidentally, the principal mineral component of KJ, zinc, has been widely acknowledged for its beneficial influence on the immune function, and decrease the risk of developing serious respiratory illnesses. In this manuscript, we provide a glimpse of the literature on KJ and postulate its potential beneficial effects in respiratory infections, including COVID-19.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.424-430
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• 1993

Pulmonary eosinophilic granuloma or histiocytosis X is a chronic interstitial lung disease characterized by proliferations of Langerhans cells and, therefore, not truly histiocytosis. Both histiocytes and Langerhans cells are believed to be related to the mononuclear phagocyte system. In Eosinophilic granuloma, extra-pulmonary such as mediastinal or hilar lymph nodes involvement is very rare in adult. We report a case of young man with eosinophilic granuloma involving lung and anterior mediastinal lymph node simultaneously which is confirmed by open thoracotomy.

• BMB Reports
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.507-512
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• 1996

The NADPH oxidase of phagocytes catalyzes the reduction of oxygen to $O_{2}^{-}$ at the expense of NADPH The enzyme is dormant in resting neutrophils and hecomes activated on stimulation. During activation. $p47^{phox}$ (phagocyte oxidase factor), a cytosolic oxidase subunit, becomes extensively phosphorylated on a number of serines located between S303-S379. Although the biochemical role of phosphorylation is speculative, it has been suggested that phosphorylation could neutralize the strongly cationic C-terminal which may result in the change of conformation of $p47^{phox}$ and subsequent translocation of this protein and other cytosolic components to the membrane. In order to mimic the effect of phosphorylation in terms of neutralizing the positive charges, recombinant $p47^{phox}$ was treated with phenylglyoxal, which removes positive charges of arginine residues. Modification of recombinant $p47^{phox}$ resulted in the activation of oxidase in a cell-free translocation system as well as a conformational change in recombinant $p47^{phox}$ which may be responsible for the activation of the enzyme.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.28 no.8
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• pp.936-941
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• 2005

In this trial we assessed the effect of soluble alginates on murine cells. Mouse peritoneal monocytes were stimulated in vitro with a solution of alginate. The production of $TNF-\alpha$ and nitric oxide (NO), the expression of surface molecules CD80 and CD86, and the ability of monocytes to phagocyte bacteria were assessed, in order to evaluate the effect of alginate on cell functionality. We showed that mouse peritoneal monocytes stimulated with alginate produce NO and $TNF-\alpha$. In addition, alginate is able also to increase their phagocytic activity and to a lesser extent also to increase the expression of CD80. Even with different degrees, it implies that alginates per se act directly on immune response, being able to effectively stimulate proinflammatory activity. These findings corroborate the idea that alginates can represent interesting adjuvants to use to increase the efficacy of antigenic stimulation.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.93-109
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• 1992

The purpose of this experiment was to investigate both the immunomodulatory effect of evening primrose(EP) oil and the effects of EP oil on immunoregulation by cyclophosphamide in mice. EP oil at doses of 0.1, 0.2 and 0.4 ml/kg were orally administered to ICR male mice once daily for 28 consecutive days. Cyclophosphamide was injected intraperitoneally to ICR mice with a single dose of 5 mg/kg at 2 days before secondary immunization. Mice were sensitized and challenged with sheep red blood cells(S-RBC). Immnune responses were evaluated by humoral and cellular immune responses and non-specific immune response. The results of this study were summarized as follows; (1) The humoral immune responses such as hemagglutination titer(HA), hemolysin titer(HY), Arthus reaction and plaque forming cell(PFC) were significantly enhanced in the low dose EP oil administered groups(0.1 and 0.2 ml/kg). However, in the high dose EP oil administered group(0.4 ml/kg) the responses were significantly lowered. (2) In the case of cellular immune responses, delayed type hypersensitivity reaction(DTH) was significantly decreased in EP oil whereas rosette forming cell(RFC) was remarkably enhanced. (3) Activities of natural killer cells and phagocyte were generally enhanced in EP oil. In addition, serum albumin and globulin were also increased.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.137-142
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• 1996

Effects of plantago-mucilage A (P-MA) on the immune responses were studied in ICR mice. Mice were divided into 4 groups (10 mice/group), and P-MA at doses of 7, 21 and 63 mg/kg were orally administered to mice once a day for 21 consecutive days. Mice were immunized and challenged with sheep red blood cells (SRBC). P-MA at 63 mg/kg/day significantly increased the body weight gain and the relative weights of spleen and thymus, as compared with those in controls. However, there were no significant effects on liver weight due to P-MA treatment. Plaque forming cells (PFC) and hemagglutination (HA) titers to SRBC were significantly enhanced in mice dosed at 21 and 63 mg/kg/day P-MA, as compared with those in controls. Delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) reaction to SRBC, phagocyte activity and circulating leukocyte were also significantly increased in mice dosed at 63 mg/kg/day P-MA. These results demonstrate that P-MA markedly enhances both humoral immune and allergic reaction to SRBC at concentrations which don't act on the relative weight of liver.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.10
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• pp.1885-1891
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• 2017

In this study, we evaluated the inhibitory effect of a rice bran mixture extract (RBE) on Brucella abortus pathogenesis in professional (RAW 264.7) and nonprofessional (HeLa) phagocytes. We fermented the rice bran mixture and then extracted it with 50% ethanol followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to identify the components in RBE. Our results clearly showed that RBE caused a significant reduction in the adherence of B. abortus in both cell lines. Furthermore, analysis of phagocytic signaling proteins by western blot assay revealed that RBE pretreatment resulted in inhibition of phosphorylation of JNK, ERK, and p38, leading to decline of internalization compared with the controls. Additionally, the intensity of F-actin observed by fluorescence microscopy and FACS was remarkably reduced in RBE-pretreated cells compared with control cells. However, the intracellular replication of B. abortus within phagocytes was not affected by RBE. Taken together, these findings suggest that the phagocytic receptor blocking and suppressive effects of RBE on the MAPK-linked phagocytic signaling pathway could negatively affect the invasion of B. abortus into phagocytes.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.722-726
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• 2010

Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) is an uncommon inherited disorder caused by mutations in any of the genes encoding subunits of the superoxide-generating phagocyte NADPH oxidase system, which is essential for killing catalase producing bacteria and fungi, such as $Aspergillus$ species, $Staphylococcus$ $aureus$, $Serratia$ $marcescens$, $Nocardia$ species and $Burkholderia$ $cepacia$. In case of a history of recurrent or persistent infections, immune deficiency should be investigated. Particularly, in the case of uncommon infections such as aspergillosis in early life, CGD should be considered. We describe here a case of CGD that presented with invasive pulmonary aspergillosis in a 2-month-old girl. We confirmed pulmonary aspergillosis noninvasively through a positive result from the culture of bronchial alveolar lavage fluid, positive serological test for $Aspergillus$ antigen and radiology results. She was successfully treated with Amphotericin B and recombinant IFN-${\gamma}$ initially. Six weeks later after discharge, she was readmitted for pneumonia. Since there were infiltrates on the right lower lung, which were considered as residual lesions, voriconazole therapy was initiated. She showed a favorable response to the treatment and follow-up CT showed regression of the pulmonary infiltrates.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.209-212
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• 2003

Lucigenin (Lg)- and luminol (Lm)-dependent chemiluminescence (CL) was used to compare the respiratory burst of rockfish (Sebastes schlegeli) phagocytes after stimulation with phorbol myristate acetate (PMA). To establish which reactive oxygen species (ROS) contributes to the observed CL, the modulators of ROS metabolism, such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, and sodium azide $(NaN_3)$ were used. Although LgCL responses were inhibited significantly by the addition of either SOD or catalase, in comparison to the control, significantly lower LgCL responses were recorded by SOD than catalase. LmCL also showed significantly decreased responses by the addition of SOD and catalase. However, there were no statistical differences in CL responses between SOD and catalase additions. More profound and significant decrease of LmCL responses were recorded by simultaneous addition of SOD and catalase. Sodium azide markedly enhanced LgCL responses, while it significantly inhibited LmCL responses. These results indicate that LgCL and LmCL can be used to measure extracellular $O_2$ production and myeloperoxidase (MPO)-mediated ROS production in fish phagocytes, respectively. Furthermore, LmCL can be used for analyzing intracellular ROS production by simultaneous addition of both SOD and catalase.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.892-897
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• 2005

Macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) is a growth factor required for growth and differentiation of mononuclear phagocyte lineage. Total and 16 poly (A) mRNA of bovine M-CSF were isolated from healthy bovine peripheral mononuclear cells stimulated by phobol 12-myristste 13-acetate (TPA). The more compatible cultured mononuclear cells were 5${\times}$10/ml for RNA isolation. TPA-activated mononuclear cells increased the level of M-CSF-mRNA more than concanavalin A (Con A) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The optimal analysis of reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for14 Macrophage colonystimulating factor (M-CSF) as a growth factor required for bovine M-CSF was denaturation at 94$^{\circ}C$ for 1 minute, annealing at 57$^{\circ}C$ for 1 minute, extension at 72$^{\circ}C$ for 1 minute for 30 cycles. The size of cDNA of bovine M-CSF by RT-PCR was 774 base pairs. A 774 base pairs cDNA encoding bovine M-CSF was synthesized by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Ligated cDNA was transformed to competent cells and then plasmid isolation and digestion was performed. Molecular cloning and sequencing were performed for cDNA of bovine M-CSF. The size of cloned cDNA of bovine M-CSF was 774base pairs. The homology of base sequence and amino acid sequence was 88% and 86% compared with known human M-CSF, respectively. From a high degree of sequence similarity, the obtained cDNA of bovine M-CSF is thought be a specific gene of bovine M-CSF.