E. Yesilada et al., EFFECTS OF THE TURKISH SUBSPECIES OF VISCUM-ALBUM ON MACROPHAGE-DERIVED CYTOKINES, Journal of ethnopharmacology, 61(3), 1998, pp. 195-200
Viscum album L. herbs are used for the treatment of various diseases.
Apart from their immunostimulatory, antitumor, and hypotension inducin
g activities, anti-inflammatory effects has also been recorded in the
literature. Since the immunostimulatory activity of mistletoe is mainl
y attributed to a stimulation of the mononuclear phagocytic system and
to an induction of inflammation by macrophage-derived cytokines, util
ization based on anti-inflammatory activity seems in contrast with its
use as immunostimulant. The inhibitory effects of 80% ethanol extract
s and subfractions obtained by petroleum ether, diethylether, ethylace
tate and n-butanol from three Turkish subspecies of V. album L. (ssp.
album, ssp. abietis, ssp. austriacum) against interleukins (IL-1 alpha
and IL-1 beta) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha were studied. Ethanoli
c (80%) extracts of all three subspecies exhibited almost no significa
nt inhibitory activity on the proinflammatory cytokines, at least in t
he concentrations applied in this study. In contrast, they induce a co
ncentration dependent stimulation of these cytokines. On the other han
d, moderate to weak, dose dependent inhibitory effects were observed o
n fractionation, which may be attributed to the existence of less pola
r components with anti-inflammatory activity. Based on our results, it
was concluded that the utilization of ethanol extracts for anti-infla
mmatory purposes would not be beneficial probably due to the partial e
xtraction of the low-molecular-weight polypeptides, i.e. viscotoxins;
which induce an inflammatory response. Moreover, for anti-inflammatory
effects, extracts of Viscum album ssp. austriacum may be preferred, s
ince higher inhibitory ratios were obtained against inflammatory cytok
ines than with the other two subspecies. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ire
land Ltd. All rights reserved.