TY - JOUR A2 - Yamada, Haruki AU - Jin, Xiangyuan AU - Yu, Lei AU - Uchiyama, Masateru AU - Yin, Enzhi AU - Harada, Tadanori AU - Otsuka, Ken AU - Matsuyama, Shigefumi AU - Imazuru, Tomohiro AU - Shimokawa, Tomoki AU - Niimi, Masanori PY - 2014 DA - 2014/03/20 TI - Combination of Paeoniae Radix and Cnidii Rhizoma Prolonged Survival of Fully Mismatched Cardiac Allografts and Generated Regulatory Cells in Mice SP - 841408 VL - 2014 AB - In previous studies, we have demonstrated that Tokishakuyakusan (TJ-23) can prolong the survival of allogeneic cardiac grafts and induce regulatory T cells. In this study we investigated the effects of Paeoniae radix and Cnidii rhizoma, two components of TJ-23, on alloimmune responses in a murine cardiac transplantation model and whether the two agents have synergistic effect. CBA mice underwent transplantation of a C57BL/6 heart and received oral administration of 2 g/kg/day of Paeoniae radix, Cnidii rhizoma, or the mixture of two agents from the day of transplantation until 7 days afterward. Naïve CBA mice rejected C57BL/6 cardiac graft acutely (median survival time (MST): 7 days). Paeoniae radix and Cnidii rhizoma prolonged C57BL/6 allograft survival (MSTs: 13.5 and 15.5 days, resp.). However, the mixture of two agents prolonged C57BL/6 allograft survival indefinitely (MST > 100 days). Secondary CBA recipients given whole splenocytes from primary combination-treated CBA recipients with B6 cardiac allografts 30 days after grafting had prolonged survival of B6 hearts (MST: 33 days). Flow cytometry studies showed that the CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory cell population was increased in combination-treated recipients. Combination of Paeoniae radix and Cnidii rhizoma induced hyporesponsiveness to fully allogeneic cardiac allografts and may generate CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory cells in our model. SN - 1741-427X UR - https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/841408 DO - 10.1155/2014/841408 JF - Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine PB - Hindawi Publishing Corporation KW - ER -