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Planta Med 2009; 75(6): 581-586
DOI: 10.1055/s-0029-1185357
Pharmacology
Original Paper
© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

The Immunomodulatory Effect of Sambucol on Leishmanial and Malarial Infections

Judith Hannah Waknine-Grinberg1 , 4 , Joseph El-On2 , Vivian Barak3 , Yechezkel Barenholz4 , Jacob Golenser1
  • 1Department of Parasitology, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
  • 2Ben Gurion University of the Negev and Soroka University Medical Center, Beer-Sheva, Israel
  • 3Hadassah, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel
  • 4Laboratory of Membrane and Liposome Research, Department of Biochemistry, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel
Further Information

Publication History

received August 13, 2008 revised Dec. 29, 2008

accepted January 6, 2009

Publication Date:
12 February 2009 (online)

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Abstract

A nontoxic dose of Sambucol, an immunomodulator commercially sold as an immune stimulator, was examined in murine models of leishmaniasis and malaria. Sambucol causes a shift in the immune response, as demonstrated in human monocyte cultures, to Th1 (inflammation-associated) responses. Treatment of leishmania-infected mice with Sambucol delayed the development of the disease. As there was no direct in vitro anti-leishmanial effect, the observed partial protection in vivo is most likely related to immune modulation. Although increased Th1 responses are associated with protection from leishmaniasis, they are considered to be the main immunopathological processes leading to cerebral malaria. Administration of Sambucol to mice prior to and following infection with Plasmodium berghei ANKA increased the incidence of cerebral malaria, while administration of Sambucol after infection had no effect on the disease. The results demonstrate how an inflammatory-like response may alleviate or exacerbate clinical symptoms of disease and hint at the importance of administration timing. The overall effect of immunomodulator administration depends on the ongoing immune response and the Th1/Th2 balance determined by both host and parasite defense mechanisms.

Key words

malaria - leishmaniasis - Sambucol - Sambucus nigra L. (Sambucaceae) - immunomodulation - cytokines

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Jacob Golenser

Department of Parasitology
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Jerusalem 91020

Israel

Phone: + 97 2 26 75 80 90

Fax: + 97 2 26 75 74 25

Email: golenser@md.huji.ac.il

    www.thieme-connect.de/ejournals/toc/plantamedica