| Ginseng (Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer) has been used as a tonic drug in Chinese Traditional Medicine for two thousand years. It is very useful to restore the deteriorated functions of aged persons and animals. Ginsenoside Rgl (Rgl) is one of the important active principles of ginseng and shares many pharmacological effects of this plant, such as, facilitating learning and memory and alleviating many ailments associated with aging. In the present studies, a series of experiments, both in vivo and in vitro systems, were designed to observe the influence of Rgl on CNS and immune system in aged rats in order to further investigate its mechanisms of actions.1. Immunoregulatory effects of Rgl in aged rats.It has been well documented that the immune system declines with age in the human and animals The possible causes for the decline are the inability of lymphocytes to proliferate in response to mitogenic stimulation and the decrease of IL-2 production. In our studies, Rgl selectively enhanced the proliferation of lymphocytes and the production of IL-2 in aged rats. Interestingly, under the same condition, the same studies were carried out on the effect of Rgl on the immune function of young adult rats, but no marked influence was detected. According to the results, it is reasonable to think that Rgl could be an immunoregulator rather than a purely "immunopotentiating agent".
|
PDF Full Text Request