Comparative acute XXXX and immunomodulatory potentials of five Eastern Nigeria mistletoes.

@entity137 @entity1042 @entity19 @entity786 @entity465 @entity1200 @entity56 @entity35
ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Traditionally, mistletoes of Eastern Nigeria origin, Loranthus micranthus Linn. have been used as immunostimulant for the management of certain diseases with high profile immune depleting potentials. This practice has remained till date without scientific validation. AIM OF STUDY: To obtain and validate evidence for or against its continued use as immunostimulant and afford data for further studies on this specie of mistletoe. The present work is an in vivo proof of ethnopharmacological concept of the age long immunomodulatory use of our local mistletoe. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Aqueous- @entity1042 extracts of the plant leaves from five different host trees were evaluated for immunomodulatory activity using four in vivo models in @entity19 or @entity35 , namely; total and differential leukocyte count (TLC and DLC), the cellular mediated delayed-type @entity56 (DTHR) test, the humoral mediated @entity465 ( @entity465 ) test and the @entity786 -induced myelosuppression (CIM) test at different dose levels (100, 200 and 400 or 50, 100 and 250 mg kg(-1); depending on model) against standard controls. Phytochemical and acute @entity137 tests were equally carried out on all the extracts. RESULTS: Results obtained indicate that all the mistletoes contained the same phytochemical constituents, although in varying amounts. The mistletoes exhibited statistically significantly different (p < 0.05 or p < 0.001, ANOVA) immunomodulatory (up-regulatory) activities in the overall order of that from Kola acuminata > Citrus spp > Persia americana > Parkia biglobosa > Pentaclatra macrophylla. LD(50) values were generally greater than 5000 mg/kg. CONCLUSION: The present study confirms the Eastern Nigeria mistletoe as a potent and safe alternative or complementary medicine for the management of @entity1200 .
