Immunomodulatory effect of schisandrae oil in mouse model of autoimmune hepatitis induced by concanavalin A

Objective:To study the immunomodulatory effect of schisandra oil (SCO) in mouse model of autoimmune hepatitis induced by concanavalin A (ConA). Methods:C57BL/6 mice were divided into control group, model group and SCO group. Mice in SCO group were given SCO at 5 mg/kg by intragastric administration every day for 7 days, followed by intravenous injection of ConA at 10 mg/kg. 10 hours after ConA injection, the levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were measured by the kits, the expression of inflammatory cytokines like interferonγ (IFNγ), interleukin4 (IL4), interleukin17 (IL17), tumor necrosis factorα (TNFα), interleukin1β (IL1β) and interleukin6 (IL6) in liver was detected by realtime quantitative PCR, and the T cell activation and IFNγ expression in spleen and MLN were examined by flow cytometry. Results:Compared with control group, each indicator in model group were significantly higher. In SCO preventive treatment group, the levels of serum ALT, AST and LDH were significantly reduced (all P lt;0.001), the expression levels of inflammatory cytokines in liver were downregulated, the T cell activation in spleen and MLN was inhibited (P=0.006 and P=0.008), the percentages of IFNγ+ CD8+ and IFNγ+ CD4+ T cells were decreased, and the frequencies of Th2 and Th17 cells in spleen and MLN were also decreased at the same time. Conclusion:SCO has a protective effect on immune liver injury by inhibiting the activation of T cells and reducing the expression of inflammatory cytokines, which reflects that SCO plays a role in the immunomodulation of autoimmune hepatitis, indicating that SCO is of great significance for the maintenance of autoimmune homeostasis.