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Effects of Cadmium and Acanthopanax senticosus Extract on the Activities of Immune Cells in Mice Spleen

Alina Smalinskiene, Nijole Savickiene, Dalia Pangonyte, Arturas Kasauskas, Virgilijus Zitkevicius*, Inga Staneviciene and Ilona Sadauskiene

Cadmium is an environmental hazard which suppress humoral and cellular immune response of immune cells. Acanthopanax senticosus (Rupr. et Maxim.) Harms (AS) is a widely used adaptogen containing triterpenoid saponins, flavonoids and polysaccharides. AS improves immune response enhancing activities of immune cells. The aim of this study was to investigate the ability of liquid extract of AS to moderate immunotoxic effects of cadmium. The effects of AS extract on accumulation of Cd as well as on levels of splenic immune cells after chronic treatment with CdCl2 were investigated. BALB/c mice were periodically injected intraperitoneal (i.p.) for 6 weeks with CdCl2 and AS extract solutions of two different concentrations in deionized water: 0.05 LD50 AS; 0.10 LD50 AS; 0.05 LD50 Cd2+; 0.05 LD50 Cd2+ and 0.05 LD50 AS; 0.05 LD50 Cd2+ and 0.10 LD50 AS. Control group mice were periodically injected i.p. with the saline solution. The levels of macrophages, T lymphocytes and B lymphocytes were determined by immunohistochemistry using, respectively, CD68, CD3 and CD20 antibodies. The results showed that periodical injection of CdCl2 and CdCl2 together with AS caused increase of Cd2+ concentration in the spleen as compared to control and AS groups. Injections of cadmium increased the number of macrophages. AS extract and/or Cd2+ did not change the number of T lymphocytes. AS extract significant increase the number of B lymphocytes in comparison to control group, furthermore the number of B lymphocytes was higher in Cd+AS 0.1 LD50 group than in mice injected with CdCl2 only.