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Updated: Dec 12, 2025
Immunostimulatory Agent Evaluation: Lymphoid Tissue Extraction and Injection Route-Dependent Dendritic Cell Activation
Published on: September 16, 2018
Immunomodulatory and antitumour bioactive labdane diterpenoids from Leonurus japonicus
Grace Gar-Lee Yue1, Xin-Xin Liang2, Xiao-Li Li2
1Institute of Chinese Medicine and State Key Laboratory of Research on Bioactivities and Clinical Applications of Medicinal Plants, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong.
Objectives:
Two labdane diterpenoids, leojapone B and heteronone B, were isolated from Leonurus japonicus Houtt., and their biological activity were evaluated in this study.
Methods:
Human and mouse cancer cells, human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and mouse macrophages (RAW264.7 cells) were used to evaluate the activity of leojapone B and heteronone B, while the in vivo effects of leojapone B were further examined in Lewis Lung Cancer tumour-bearing mice.
Key Findings:
In vitro studies showed that leojapone B selectively inhibited the proliferation of lung cancer cells, and both leojapone B and heteronone B inhibited the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines in activated PBMCs. In tumour-bearing mice model, lung tumours were reduced in size in mice treated with intraperitoneal injections of leojapone B at 20 and 30 mg/kg for 14 days. The population ratio of CD4+ /CD8+ T cells in mouse spleens was found to be increased, while regulatory T cells were decreased after leojapone B treatment.
Conclusions:
The inhibitory effects of leojapone B in mouse lung tumours were demonstrated for the first time in this study. The immunomodulatory activity of heteronone B were also demonstrated. Our findings indicated that both leojapone B and heteronone B may act as active components in L. japonicus.
