Extracts of medicinal plants in Baikal region: their effect on the immunity and hemostasis indicators in case of experimental immunodeficiency

Immunity, hemostasis, and fibrinolysis are a unified cyto-humoral defensive system of the organism. The disclosure of immunoregulating effects of medicinal plants is an urgent problem for modern phytopharmacology. The purpose of the study was to estimate the effect of medicinal plant extracts from Baikal region on parameters of immunity and hemostasis in cases of experimental immunodeficiency induced by thymectomy. Extracts of Echinacea purpurea Moench (comparative drug), Penthaphylloides fruticosa (L) O.Schwarz., Bergenia crassifolia (L) Fritsch., and Scutellaria baicalensis (L) Georgi. were intragastrically administrated to experimental rats during 14 days. The content of pro- (IL-1β, IL-8, TNF-α) and anti-inflammatory (IL- 4, IL-10) cytokines, the degree of lymphocyte-platelet adhesion, parameters of hemostasis and fibrinolysis were determined in the blood as well as the weights of immunocompetent organs. It has been established that thymectomy results in decreased production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, decreased lymphocyte-platelet adhesion, spleen reduction, and the blood hypercoagulation. The Penthaphylloides fruticosa extract administration decreased the production of proinflammatory cytokines, increased the concentration of IL-10, normalized lymphocyte-platelet adhesion, restored the spleen mass and parameters of hemostasis. The administration of the Bergenia crassifolia extract led to increased production of IL-1β and IL-10, increased the spleen mass and exerted a weak procoagulation effect. The Scutellaria baicalensis and Echinacea purpurea extracts promoted lymphocyte-platelet adhesion and increased the content of fibrinogen in the rat blood.