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- Title
Co-administration of aqueous ginseng extract with tobramycin stimulates the pro-inflammatory response and promotes the killing of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the lungs of infected rats.
- Authors
Alipour, Misagh; Omri, Abdelwahab; Lui, Edmund M.K.; Suntres, Zacharias E.
- Abstract
North American ginseng is known to have immunomodulatory and antipseudomonal properties in vitro. In this study we investigated the effects of aqueous ginseng extract, either alone or in a combination with the antibiotic tobramycin, in an animal model of chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa lung infection. The lungs of male rats ( n = 5) were infected with P. aeruginosa (2 × 108 cfu/mL) in agar-beads by intratracheal instillation. Starting on day 7 post-infection, animals were treated daily for 3 consecutive days with saline, tobramycin (300 μg/kg body mass, intratracheal), and (or) ginseng (100 mg/kg body mass, subcutaneous); animals were sacrificed 24 h after the third drug treatment. Lung bacteria counts, cytokine levels in sera, and lung histopathology were examined. The treatment of infected animals with tobramycin [6.6 × 104 colony forming units (cfu)], ginseng (5.3 × 104 cfu), or tobramycin plus ginseng (2.0 × 103 cfu) lessened the lung infection compared with the control group (saline treated) (6.0 × 106 cfu). The levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-12p70, IFN-γ, GM-CSF, TNF-α) in infected animals were significantly increased with co-treatment of ginseng plus tobramycin. These data suggest that co-administration of aqueous ginseng extract and tobramycin stimulated the pro-inflammatory response and promoted the killing of P. aeruginosa.
- Subjects
PSEUDOMONAS aeruginosa infections; GINSENG; LABORATORY rats; TOBRAMYCIN; LUNG infections; GINSENOSIDES; THERAPEUTICS
- Publication
Canadian Journal of Physiology & Pharmacology, 2013, Vol 91, Issue 11, p935
- ISSN
0008-4212
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1139/cjpp-2013-0073