The Effect of Standardized Extract of Echinacea Purpurea on Cytotoxicity and Proliferation of Rat Splenocytes

Abstract

Objective: The main purpose of this research is to study the effect of standardized extract of Echinacea purpurea on viability and proliferation of rat splenocytes.
Materials and methods: The cytotoxic effect of various concentration of standardized extract of Echinacea purpurea (25, 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200 μg/ml) on rat splenocytes were investigated by LDH method. Cells proliferation was performed at the aforementioned doses by MTT method at 24 to 72 hour. Results: Splenocytes treated with standardized extract showed no cytotoxicity in compare to control group; thus, the viability percentage between treated cells with various concentration of the extract and control group did not significant difference (p>0.05). Splenocytes proliferation under standardized extract was significantly (p<0.05) increased at concentrations of 800, 1600 and 3200 μg/ml in 24h and at 400, 800, 1600, and 3200 μg/ml concentrations in 72h compare to control group. This increase in proliferation depends on dosage and time. Conclusion: It is demonstrated that standardized extract of Echinacea purpurea has the proliferation effect without cytotoxicity effect on splenocytes, and it has immune enhancing feature.