Efficacy of a pure compound H1-A extracted from Cordyceps sinensis on autoimmune disease of MRL lpr/lpr mice

Cordyceps sinensis (CS) is a traditional Chinese medicine with immunomodula tory effect and is effective in improving the survival of lupus mice. In th e present study we isolated a pure compound (HI-A) from CS and investigated its effect on inhibiting autoimmune disease progression in MRL Ipr/Ipr mic e. Our results demonstrated that MRL Ipr/Ipr mice treated daily with HI-A ( 40 mu g/kg/d orally) for 8 weeks had a progressive reduction in anti-ds-DNA production (optical density value decreased from 0.172 +/- 0.009 to 0.112 +/- 0.015) when compared with the control group (optical density value incr eased from 0.141 +/- 0.036 to 0.198 +/- 0.047), In clinical presentation, t he treated group had a reduction in lymphadenopathy, a delayed progression of proteinuria, and an improvement in kidney function. Histologic analysis of kidney tissue indicated that HI-A could inhibit the mesangial proliferat ion that was evident in lupus nephritis. However, there was no significant change in immune complex deposition. The studies reveal that the pure compo und (H1-A) may be potentially useful for treating systemic lupus erythemato sus in human patients, and they provide some questions for further investig ation of the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus and lupus nephrit is.