Immunomodulation by ethanolic extract of Boerhaavia diffusa roots

We have earlier reported that ethanolic extract of Boerhaavia diffusa, a plant used in Indian traditional system of medicine, significantly inhibits the cell proliferation. This led us to evaluate the immunomodulatory properties of this plant extract on various in vitro tests such as human natural killer (NK) cell cytotoxicity, production of nitric oxide (NO) in mouse macrophage cells, RAW 264.7, interleukin-2 (IL-2), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), intracytoplasmic interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) and expression of various cell surface markers on human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Ethanolic extracts of B. diffusa roots inhibited human NK cell cytotoxicity in vitro, production of NO in mouse macrophage cells, IL-2 and TNF-alpha in human PBMCs. Intracytoplasmic IFN-gamma and cell surface markers such as CD16, CD25, and HLA-DR did not get affected on treatment with B. diffusa extract. Our study demonstrates immunosuppressive potential of ethanolic extract of B. diffusa.