Effects of Chinese herbs on macrophage functions in N-butyl-N-butanolnitrosoamine treated mice

We investigated the effect of Chinese herbs Lithospermi radix, Astragali radix and Cnidii rhizoma on the functions of macrophages obtained from mice treated with the carcinogen N-butyl-N-butanolnitrosoamine (BBN). The chemotactic activity of murine macrophages was significantly decreased by 17 weeks of treatment with BBN compared with controls. Production of IL-1 and TNF was also markedly reduced. Treatment with Lithospermi radix, Astragali radix, and Cnidii rhizoma significantly inhibited BBN-induced suppression chemotactic activity and production of IL-1 and TNF-alpha by macrophages. Moreover, we found that Astragali radix treated macrophage chemotaxis, it or Cnidii rhizoma induced productions of TNF-alpha were in excess of control.