TY - JOUR A2 - Jang, Bo-Hyoung AU - Choi, Han-Seok AU - Kim, Soon Re AU - Hong, Se Hyang AU - Ku, Jin Mo AU - Kim, Min Kyoung AU - Seo, Hye Sook AU - Cho, Sung-Gook AU - Shin, Sangtae AU - Shin, Yong Cheol AU - Ko, Seong-Gyu PY - 2013 DA - 2013/06/09 TI - Water Extract of Deer Bones Activates Macrophages and Alleviates Neutropenia SP - 617302 VL - 2013 AB - Extracts from deer bones, called nok-gol in Korean, have long been used to invigorate Qi. While neutropenia is not well detected in normal physiological condition, it could be a cause of severe problems to develop diseases such as infectious and cancerous diseases. Thus, a prevention of neutropenia in normal physiology and pathophysiological states is important for maintaining Qi and preventing disease progress. In cell biological aspects, activated macrophages are known to prevent neutropenia. In this study, we demonstrate that water extract of deer bone (herein, NG) prevents neutropenia by activating macrophages. In mouse neutropenia model system in vivo where ICR mice were treated with cyclophosphamide to immunosuppress, an oral administration of NG altered the number of blood cells including lymphocytes, neutrophils, basophils, and eosinophils. This in vivo effect of NG was relevant to that of granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) that was known to improve neutropenia. Our in vitro studies further showed that NG treatment increased intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and promoted macrophagic differentiation of mouse monocytic Raw264.7 cells in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, NG enhanced nitric oxide (NO) synthesis and secretions of cytokines including IL-6 and TNF-α. Consistently, NG treatment induced phosphorylation of ERK, JNK, IKK, IκBα, and NF-κB in Raw264.7 cells. Thus, our data suggest that NG is helpful for alleviating neutropenia. SN - 1741-427X UR - https://doi.org/10.1155/2013/617302 DO - 10.1155/2013/617302 JF - Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine PB - Hindawi Publishing Corporation KW - ER -