Immunomodulatory Effects of Kuseonwangdogo-Based Mixed Herbal Formula Extracts on a Cyclophosphamide-Induced Immunosuppression Mouse Model

Figure 6

Representative histopathological images of the spleen, taken from intact or CPA-induced immunosuppressive mice. Obvious atrophic changes related to the decrease of splenic white pulp lymphoid cells were detected in CPA control mice as compared with intact vehicle control mice; consequently the total splenic thicknesses and white pulp numbers and diameters were significantly decreased in CPA control mice as compared with intact control mice, respectively. However, these splenic atrophic changes were markedly inhibited by treatment of β-glucan and MHFe 500, 250, and 125 mg/kg as compared with CPA control mice, respectively. All three different dosages of MHFe-treated mice, especially, showed clear and noticeable dose-dependent inhibitory effects on CPA-induced histopathological atrophic changes of the spleen similar to equal dosages of β-glucan, in this experiment; (a) distilled water-administered intact mice (vehicle control); (b) CPA-treated and distilled water-administered control mice (CPA control); (c) CPA-treated and β-glucan 250 mg/kg administered mice (β-glucan); (d) CPA-treated and MHFe 500 mg/kg administered mice (MHFe 500); (e) CPA-treated and MHFe 250 mg/kg administered mice (MHFe 250); (f) CPA-treated and MHFe 125 mg/kg administered mice (MHFe 125); CPA: cyclophosphamide; MHFe: two-sweetener-excluded Kuseonwangdogo-based mixed herbal formula aqueous extracts; WP: white pulp; RP: red pulps; arrow: central arteriole; all Hematoxylin-Eosin stain; scale bar: 400 μm.

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