Immunological and Antioxidant properties of Astralgaulus complex, Andrographis complex, Cat's claw, Baptisia and Pokeroot

Abstract

It has been reported that at least 50% of the Australian population use some form of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM). Furthermore during 2004 consumers spent AU$1.86 billion on CAM which was four times as much as was spent on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (1). In many countries CAM has traditionally been used to support health in general or to alleviate symptoms or to treat disease. However there is a distinct lack of evidence surrounding the efficacy and mode of action of CAMs and in particular herbal medicines. It has therefore been concluded that there is a need for improved scientific evidence and quality control of herbal preparations with respect to acceptance by the medical community. We have previously reported that Echinacea preparations improved antioxidant and immunological defences (2). In the current project we extended this line of investigation by examining a panel of antioxidant (erythrocyte haemolysis, total phenolic content, Ferric Reducing Ability of Plasma and DPPH radical scavenging assays) and immunological (leukocyte coping capacity, Th1 and Th2 cytokines and leukocyte heat shock protein 70 expression) parameters of a range of practitioner-only herbal products. The products examined were Astralgaulus complex, Andrographis complex, Cat's claw, Baptisia and Pokeroot. We conducted ex vivo studies using peripheral blood samples collected from 10 healthy individuals (5 male and 5 female). The results of this pilot study provide evidence of the antioxidant and immunological properties of these herbal medicines in an ex vivo system and indicate that placebo-controlled, double-blind, clinical trials are warranted.