The anti-stress effects of Sarcandra glabra extract on restraint-evoked immunocompromise

Sarcandra glabra was a renowned herb traditionally used as herbal tea or food supplement to enhance mental efficiency and to recover from stress or fatigue in China. We investigated the effects of Sarcandra glabra extract (SGE), with chemical composition clearly showed by HPLC fingerprint as quality control, on immunologic response including natural killer (NK) cell activity and its antioxidative capacity in splenocytes obtained from restraint mice. Our results found that daily oral administration of SGE (125, 500 mg/kg/d) for 5 consecutive days to restrained mice alleviated the stress-induced reduction of the number of lymphocytes, the balance of CD4(+) T/CD8(+) T and NK cell activity per spleen. SGE also significantly decreased the level of lipid peroxidation and increased oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) in splenocytes. These results indicated that SGE modulate stress-attenuated immunologic response, at least, partially explained by improving antioxidative capacity in immunocytes.