British Journal of Pharmaceutical Research 3(4): 662-670, 2013 SCIENCEDOMAIN international www.sciencedomain.org
Immunomodulatory Effects of Aqueous Extracts of Auricularia sp and Pleurotus sp Mushrooms in CyclophosphamideImmunosuppressed Wistar Rats A. H. Kyakulaga1,2, P. E. Ogwang4, C. Obua1, G. Nakabonge3 and E. N. Mwavu3* 1
Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7062 Kampala, Uganda. 2 College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal resources and Bio-security, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7062 Kampala, Uganda. 3 Department of Forestry, Biodiversity and Tourism, School of Forestry, Environmental and Geographical Sciences, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7062 Kampala, Uganda. 4 Natural Chemotherapeutics Research Institute, Ministry of Health, P. O. Box 4864, Kampala, Uganda. Authors’ contributions This work was carried out in collaboration between all the authors. Authors ENM and GN wrote the main research grant winning proposal that formed the main idea for the work of this paper. Authors AHK and PEO carried out the laboratory experiments, performed the statistical analysis, and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. Authors ENM and CO managed the literature searches and supervised all the experiments. All the authors read and approved the final manuscript.
th
Research Article
Received 8 August 2012 st Accepted 31 May 2013 th Published 15 June 2013
ABSTRACT Aims: To determine the immunomodulatory effect of aqueous extracts of Auricularia sp and Pleurotus sp mushrooms using an immunosuppression animal model. Study Design: Pre-clinical experimental study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, College of Health Sciences and Division of Pharmacology, Department of Physiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Makerere University, between August 2010 and December ____________________________________________________________________________________________ *Corresponding author: Email:
[email protected];
British Journal of Pharmaceutical Research, 3(4): 662-670, 2013
2011. Methodology: A total of 80 Wistar rats divided into 8 groups (n=10) were used in the experimental study. Cyclophosphamide (10mg/kg) was administered orally (p.o) to fifty (50) Wistar rats in the first 5 groups for 28 days. In addition, rats in Group I received distilled water, groups II & III received 300mg/kg & 600mgkg of Auricularia sp extract respectively and Groups IV &V received 400mg/kg & 800mg/kg Pleurotus sp extract respectively. Wistar rats in Group VI received only 300mg/kg Auricularia sp extract, group VII received 400mg/kg Pleurotus sp extract and Group VIII received only distilled water. Blood samples were collected on days 0, 14 and 28 to determine the total and differential WBC counts. Data is presented as mean±SEM and analyzed using one-way ANOVA followed by a student’s t-test for statistical significance. Mean values are compared with initial values and the control group (Group VIII). Results: No mortality of Wistar rats was observed over the 28-day experimental period. Cyclophosphamide though caused statistically significant (p
