Enhanced CD3+/CD4+ T cell activities and modulation of Th1/Th2 lineage development in irradiated rats due to treatment with the male zooid of antheraea pernyi extracts

Objective  Cancer patients undergoing large dose radiotherapy exhibit multifaceted defects in their immune capacity that are likely to contribute to an increased susceptibility to infections and disease progression. The immune impairment may also constitute a barrier to effective immunotherapeutic interventions. Here, we evaluate whether supplementation with the male zooid of Antheraea pernyi extracts could enhance immune function in irradiated rats. Methods  Fifty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into a control group, a simple radiation group and a treatment group. The mice in the simple irradiation and treatment groups were given whole-chest irradiation with 6Gy. In the treatment group, the male zooid of Antheraea pernyi extracts was gavaged at the doses of 16.53mg/kg (large dose group), 2.62mg/kg (medium dose group), and 0.564mg/kg (small dose group) once a day for 14 days. The thymus and spleen indices were calculated. T cell subsets in peripheral blood were determined by flow cytometry and the expressions of IL-2, IFN-γ, IL-4 and IL-10 in sera were determined by ELISA on the 15th day. Results  The thymus index and spleen index of the high dose treatment group were statistically lower than that of the control group and higher than that of the radiation group (P<0.01). CD3+ and CD4+ T cells in the peripheral blood were increased in the high dose treatment group and decreased in the radiation group (P<0.01). Expression of IL-2 and INF-γ in the radiation group was lower than that in control, and significantly increased during therapy. The production of IL-4 and IL-10 could be induced by radiation and was inhibited in the high dose treatment group (P<0.01). Conclusion  Our data indicate that the male zooid of Antheraea pernyi extracts may be administrated to improve immune function in irradiated rats and reverse the radial immune inhibition of rats by stimulating the proliferation of Th cells and inducing the differentiation of Th2 to Th1. This work was supported by the grants from the National Natural Science foundation of China (No. 30472260), the Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine of Shandong Province, China(No. 2005-109),, and the Health Protection Committee of Shandong Province, China(No. 2006059).