Acacia catechu L., (Fabaceae) named as "catechu" is a plant, the decoction of heartwood of which is daily consumed as thirst quencher by a good percentage of the population in South India. The plant is mainly distributed in India and other Asian countries. It has been used in Indian traditional medicine for the treatment of asthma, bronchitis, colic, diarrhea, boils, skin afflictions, sores and stomatitis. The present investigation was aimed to study the immunomodulatory effects of different fractions of ethanol extract of A. catechu heartwood and HPLC analysis of the active fraction. Three fractions namely, butanol, chloroform and ethyl acetate were prepared from ethanol extract of A. catechu heartwood. Each of these fractions was assessed for its immunomodulatory activity. In vivo immunomodulatory activity was analyzed by sheep red blood cells (SRBC) specific hemagglutinating antibody titer, plaque-forming cell assay and delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) reaction in Swiss albino mice. In vitro immunomodulating potential of the fractions was studied using murine peritoneal macrophages and splenocytes. Non-specific immune functions such as phagocytosis (nitroblue tetrazolium reduction assay and cellular lysosomal enzyme assay), nitric oxide (NO) production and cytokine release (TNF-α and IL-10) were studied in macrophages. In addition, splenocyte proliferation was also studied. In the in vivo experiments, butanol and chloroform fractions showed an increase in antibody titer dose-dependently. At higher dose (400 mg/kg b. w.) treatment the butanol fraction produced an enhancement in the number of plaque-forming cells (antibody producing cells) in the spleen. SRBC induced DTH reaction was significantly increased with butanol fraction in a dose-dependent manner. Peritoneal macrophages showed an increased phagocytic response on treatment with butanol fraction (100 μg/mL) as evidenced by its effect on nitroblue tetrazolium reduction and cellular lysosomal enzyme activity. All three fractions inhibited the production of NO and the release of TNF-α. Interleukin-10 production was significantly increased after treatment with butanol fraction. High-performance liquid chromatography analysis of the butanol fraction showed the presence of high concentration of catechin. The results suggested that butanol fraction of ethanol extract of A. catechu heartwood had immunomodulatory effects on non-specific, humoral, and cell-mediated immune functions. This study may be useful in validating the rationality of daily consumption of decoction of A. catechu and also its use in traditional medicine system. The study also suggests the possible use of A. catechu in the immunostimulatory herbal preparations.

中文翻译：

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从儿茶中提取的富含儿茶素的丁醇级分。（一种解渴剂）表现出免疫刺激潜力

Acacia catechu L.，（豆科）被称为“儿茶”，是一种植物，其心材的煎剂每天被印度南部很大比例的人口用作解渴剂。该工厂主要分布在印度和其他亚洲国家。它已在印度传统医学中用于治疗哮喘、支气管炎、绞痛、腹泻、疖子、皮肤病痛、疮和口腔炎。本研究旨在研究儿茶心材乙醇提取物不同馏分的免疫调节作用，并对活性馏分进行高效液相色谱分析。由儿茶心材的乙醇提取物制备丁醇、氯仿和乙酸乙酯三种馏分。评估这些级分中的每一个的免疫调节活性。在瑞士白化病小鼠中通过绵羊红细胞 (SRBC) 特异性血凝抗体滴度、斑块形成细胞测定和迟发型超敏反应 (DTH) 反应分析体内免疫调节活性。使用鼠腹腔巨噬细胞和脾细胞研究级分的体外免疫调节潜力。在巨噬细胞中研究了非特异性免疫功能，例如吞噬作用（硝基四唑还原试验和细胞溶酶体酶试验）、一氧化氮 (NO) 产生和细胞因子释放（TNF-α 和 IL-10）。此外，还研究了脾细胞增殖。在体内实验中，丁醇和氯仿部分显示抗体滴度的增加呈剂量依赖性。更高剂量（400 毫克/千克体重 ) 处理丁醇部分增加了脾脏中形成斑块的细胞（产生抗体的细胞）的数量。SRBC 诱导的 DTH 反应随丁醇部分显着增加，呈剂量依赖性。腹腔巨噬细胞在用丁醇部分 (100 μg/mL) 处理时表现出增加的吞噬反应，这可以通过其对硝基蓝四唑还原和细胞溶酶体酶活性的影响来证明。所有三个部分均抑制 NO 的产生和 TNF-α 的释放。用丁醇部分处理后，IL-10 的产生显着增加。丁醇级分的高效液相色谱分析表明存在高浓度的儿茶素。结果表明，A.的乙醇提取物的丁醇部分。儿茶心材对非特异性、体液和细胞介导的免疫功能具有免疫调节作用。本研究可能有助于验证儿茶汤日常服用的合理性及其在传统医学体系中的应用。该研究还表明可能在免疫刺激性草药制剂中使用儿茶。