• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.34 no.3
• /
• pp.197-206
• /
• 1996

Water extract of Coix locrvmn seeds (Co-Ex) was separated into several components; dissolved with Tris-Cl buffer and the supernatant (WC 1), ammonium sulfate treatment supernatant (WC2) and the pellet nvc31,9AE column chromatography of WC 1 and the peak portions; WC4, WCS and WC6. Murine peritoneal macrophages in DMEM containing 10% heat-inactivated FCS were infected with tachyzoites of ToxopIQsmc gondii, RH strain, in uifo. By adding modulators such as Co-Ex, WC 1,2,3,4.5,6 and LPS or IFN-γ for 24 hrs . toxoplasmastatic activity of macrophages was examined in relation to nitrite production. Nitrite production of macrophages was enhanced especially in the series of WC2, WC1 and the combination sample (WC1 + WC2 + WC3) by order than other components or fractions (WC4, WC5, WC6) tested . Toxoplasmastatic actions such as percentage of the inacrophages infected by T. gonnii and fold increase of T gondii in macrophages showed retroverse relations with the amount of nitrite production; i.e. as nitric oxide (NO) increased the phagocytic index of macrophages and the fold increase of tachyzoites in macrophages decreased . Nitrite (NO-2) production was increased by adding IFN-γ in all cases together with enhancement of biostatic effects. Through the results obtained, it is speculated that some components other than the non-proteinous and defatted components in Coix lacrwmn seeds may contribute to activate macrophages through induction of NO for the biostatic activity.