| Objective: Psoriasis is a common chronic skin disease. Among the agents to treat psoriasis, the systemic drugs was difficult to endure for long term because of many side reactions or potential adverse effects, cost of some biologic therapies was high even their better effects. The efforts have been making to develop new oral drugs with ideal effects and less side reaction. Psoriasis modulating mixture is extract from herbs registered for oral treatment that has already been applying in clinical trials for ten years. As the statistic information showed that the incipient patient take this mixture for 2-3months, the clinical cure rate was up to 90%, and recurrence rate was low; the cure rate of the patients with refractory psoriasis was up to 75%, but its pharmacological mechanism was unknown. Its effects on immune function were investigated in this experiment.Methods: 615 adult inbred strain mice were randomly divided into 4 groups including control (with saline), mixture (extract with powder), powder and extract group separately, and every group is further divided into female and male subgroups. The drugs or saline was poured into stomach of mice. The weight of body and thymus was measured, white blood cells of peripheral blood were counted, responses of macrophages to lipopolysaccaride(LPS)were measured with MTT assay, phagocytosis function of spleen and macrophages was appreciated with phagocytosis of neutral red.Results: 1. The mean body weight among all groups was not significant(P>0.05) before administered with drugs. After administration the body weight of female mice in all experimental groups were decreased, The mean body weight after and before administered were followed: in extract with powder group it was 24.5±1.5g vs. 25.6±0.8g (P<0.01), in only powder group, it was 24.6±1.1g vs. 25.5±0.9g(P<0.05), in only extract it was 22.6±3.9g vs. 25.5±0.8g(P<0.01). While the male body weight was increased in all experimental groups, But the mean body weight of mice administered with the extract powder(26.1±1.9g) or only powder(26.1±2.1g) was lower than that(27.7±1.9g) of control mice (P<0.01).2. The difference in mean weight of thymus of female mice among all groups was not significant (P>0.05). Mean weight of thymus of male mice administered with the mixture was lower than that of male mice of control group (0.027±0.012g vs. 0.045±0.01g, P<0.01), the ratio of weight of body/weight of thymus in the male mice administered with the mixture was higher than that of control male mice (1212.3±691.7 vs. 683.9±261.7,P<0.01). The result showed that the mixture made thymus atrophy.3. The effect on white blood cell (WBC) count of peripheral blood of the drugs was significant. The count of WBC tended to decrease, the count of WBC in mice administered with the mixture was lower that that of control mice. In female mice the number was respectively (P<0.05), and in male the number was respective too (P<0.05).4. Macrophages of spleen were stimulated with LPS; their proliferation was measured with MTT assay. The results showed that the stimulated macrophages from mice administered with drugs did not exhibit stronger proliferation than the macrophages from control mice; the difference in index of proliferation among all groups was not significant. The cytotoxicity against L929 of supernatant of macrophages of mice administered with drugs was close to that of the macrophages from control mice.5. The phagocytosis of spleen cells from mice administered with the mixture was increased significantly compared with that of spleen cells from control mice (in female P < 0.01, in male P < 0.01). Phagocytosis of macrophages of mice administered with the other drugs was not increased. Conclusion: The body weight is decreased in 615 inbred strain mice administered with psoriasis modulating mixture, especially in female mice. The mixture resulted in atrophy of thymus in male mice and decrease in count of peripheral blood white blood cell, responses mediated by T lymphocytes might be inhibited. The phagocytosis of spleeny cells was strengthened, but that of macrophages was not. The results showed that psoriasis modulating mixture had selective regulation effects on immune responses.
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