Fig. 6.

The majority of the in vitro macrophage stimulatory activity of various botanical extracts is abrogated by treatment with polymyxin B and lipoprotein lipase. (a and b) The indicated botanicals were extracted with hot water (first bar in each group), 50% ethanol (second bar in each group) or hot water containing 4% SDS (third bar in each group and extracts used in Fig. 6c), followed by precipitation and washes with ethanol. The activation of NF-kappa B was assessed in RAW 264.7 cells by the expression of the luciferase reporter gene (a and b) and production of TNF-alpha by resident peritoneal mouse macrophages by ELISA (c). The numbers above each bar in c indicate the amount of LPS in each sample (colorimetric LAL assay) and is expressed as EU/mg of extracted plant material and the numbers below the x axis are the medium concentrations of each extract in μg/ml. The botanicals studies were: Glycyrrhiza glabra-licorice (LI), Astragalus membranaceus (AS), Juglans nigra-black walnut hulls (BW), Panax quinquefolius-American ginseng (AG), Panax ginseng-Korean ginseng (KG), Medicago sativa-alfalfa sprouts (AL), Echinacea purpurea root (Er) and aerial (Ea), Tinospora cordifolia (TI). Bars labeled with a (C) or (L) indicate untreated cells and cells treated with 100 ng/ml ultra pure LPS from E. coli, respectively and the black bar within L indicates treatment with polymyxin B. Control values for lipase + polymyxin B for b were 3.4 ± 0.9 and for c were 11.4 ± 4 pg/ml.