In Vivo Th1 and Th2 Cytokine Modulation Effects of Rhodiola rosea Standardised Solution and its Major Constituent, Salidroside

Abstract

Although Rhodiola rosea (L.) is used widely and disseminated in Oriental medicine, its in vivo effects on cytokine modulation remain unclear. Among the biologically active components of Rhodiola rosea, salidroside was suggested to be the most active compound. The objectives of this study were to assess the toxicity and cytokine modulation effects of Rhodiola rosea standardised solution (RRSS) and salidroside. Quantitative high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis determined the content of salidroside in RRSS to be 4.39% (w/v). Groups of Balb/c mice were fed daily with different doses of RRSS or salidroside, with CAPE or distilled water used as positive and negative controls, respectively. The acute and subacute toxicity tests did not reveal weight differences, pathological changes, or abnormalities in liver or kidney function indices among the treated groups. Ovalbumin-primed mouse cytokine assays demonstrated that both T helper (Th1) (IL-2 and IFN-γ) and Th2 (IL-4 and IL-10) cytokines were significantly increased by feeding with RRSS in a dose- and time-dependent manner (p < 0.05). Moreover, the cytokine modulation effects of salidroside were less prominent than that of RRSS treatment and not dose-dependent. These findings suggest that increased secretion of both Th1- and Th2-pattern cytokines can be achieved with RRSS and salidroside treatment.

Rhodiola species: A comprehensive review of traditional use, phytochemistry, pharmacology, toxicity, and clinical study

“…As NO production by activated macrophages is dependent on IFN‐γ, it indicates that Rhodiola plants might play a two‐way role in inflammatory immunoregulation. Th1‐(IL‐2 and IFN‐γ) and Th2‐(IL‐4 and IL‐10) pattern cytokines could be increased by salidroside treatment in ovalbumin‐primed mouse model but not in a dose‐dependent manner . Rosavin and rosarin could improve cell viability of Jurkat T cells, while enhance the apoptosis of mouse T cells.…”

“…In septic rats, a 70% ethanol extract of R. rosea (Extract 47 , i. p., 50 mg/kg) could suppresses thymus T‐lymphocyte apoptosis, increase Th1 cytokines by downregulating TIPE2 . A R. rosea standardized solution (Extract 48 ), along with its major constituent salidroside, have shown their abilities to increase secretion of both Th1‐ (interleukin‐2 [IL‐2] and interferon γ [IFN‐γ]) and Th2‐ (IL‐4 and IL‐10) pattern cytokines in OVA‐primed mice time‐ and dose‐dependently, while no acute or subacute toxicities were observed . In addition, water (RKW) and 50% ethanol (RKA) extracts of R. kirilowii (RK, Extract 49 ) were reported to stimulate granulocyte activity and lymphocyte response to mitogens in vitro with the best outcome at medium dosage of 5 µg/mL.…”

Effect of salidroside on lung injury by upregulating peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ expression in septic rats

“…Salidroside has been reported to have various pharmacological effects, including anti-aging, anticancer, hepatoprotective, antiviral and antioxidative. In addition, salidroside has been shown to suppress the release of prostaglandin E2 in vitro (11,12). A previous study identified that R. rosea suppresses the inflammatory response (13); however, the specific mechanism remains unknown.…”

Complementary Usage of Rhodiola crenulata (L.) in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Patients: The Effects on Cytokines and T Cells

“…The levels in the Rhodiola group were comparable to those in the non‐COPD group. This was inconsistent with our previous study that showed that INF‐γ was significantly increased in a dose‐dependent and time‐dependent manner by treating normal mice with a R. rosea standardized solution (Chou Lin et al ., ). Possible explanations for this inconsistency are the difference in species of Rhodiola used ( R. rosea versus R. crenulata ) and the difference in the species tested (mice versus humans).…”

“…The cytokines, IL‐2, IL‐4, IL‐10, IFN‐γ, and IL‐17, were assayed using commercial enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits purchased from BD Biosciences Pharmingen. All tests were conducted according to the manufacturers' instructions as reported previously (Lin et al ., ; Lin et al ., , ; Ho et al ., ; Huang et al ., ; Lin et al ., ; Chou Lin et al ., , ). Briefly, using 96‐well plates, 100 μL of 1:250 diluted anti‐human capture antibody sera were added and incubated overnight at 4 °C.…”