Immunosuppressive activity of hexane and ethanolic extracts of Pterospermum acerifolium seeds in BALB/c mice

The hexane and ethanolic extracts prepared from the seeds of plant Pterospermum acerifolium were evaluated for their immunomodulatory activities by exploiting their effects on the humoral and cellular immune arms of BALB/c mice after oral administration for 14 consecutive days at different log doses. Various immune parameters viz. lymphoproliferative index, oxidative burst in peritoneal macrophages, modulation in T/B cell population and regulation of Th1/Th2 cytokines in mice were monitored to assess the immunomodulatory characteristics of the plant at 3, 10 and 30 mg/kg doses. Both the extracts exerted remarkable dose-dependent immunosuppressive effect with down-regulation of all the immune markers studied. Administration of extracts in immune-stimulated mice (by treatment with levamisole) further validated the immunosuppressive action. The findings are exceedingly encouraging and warrant bioactivity guided fractionation/purification to locate the activity in a single molecule for its future use in autoimmune disorders and organ transplant patients.