IMMUNOSTIMULANT PROPERTIES OF SOME PLANTS FROM SIBERIA

An in vivo experiment studied the effect of aqueous-alcoholic extracts from raw materials of 6 little investigated medicinal plant species of the families Lamiaceae and Rosaceae, which had antimicrobial activity, on phagocytosis and proliferation of immunocompetent organs. The immunostimulant effect of the phytopreparations was determined in the experiment on two-month-old inbred CBA/CaLac mice of both sexes. The test preparations were administered at a dose of 50 mg/kg into the stomach of the experimental animals for 5 days. Their effect on the functional activity of neutrophils was evaluated using the NCT test; the stimulated phagocytosis of peripheral blood neutrophils and peritoneal fluid was assessed. The extracts from the raw material of the examined plants were ascertained to exert a pronounced immunostimulant effect differently. The majority of the extracts were also found to have a negative effect on lymphoproliferative processes in the spleen. Coluria geoides Lebed. and Nepeta sibirica L. are most promising as an immunotropic drug to be further investigated. The pronounced ability of a phytopreparation from N. sibirica raw material to stimulate the bactericidity of phagocytes (Lamiaceae) in the NCT test also deserves attention.