Study of the immunomodulatory activity of Haridradi Ghrita in rats

Objective: To study the immunomodulatory effect of a polyherbal formulation, Haridradi Ghrita (HG) in rats. Methods: Haridradi Ghrita was administered orally at doses of 50, 100, 200 and 300 mg/kg/day to healthy rats divided into five groups consisting of six animals each. The assessment of immunomodulatory activity was carried out by testing the humoral (antibody titre) and cellular (foot pad swelling) immune responses to the antigenic challenge by sheep RBCs and by neutrophil adhesion test. Results: On oral administration HG showed a significant increase in neutrophil adhesion and delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) response whereas the humoral response to sheep RBCs was unaffected. Thus HG significantly potentiated the cellular immunity by facilitating the footpad thickness response to sheep RBCs in sensitized rats. With a dose of 200 and 300 mg/kg/day the DTH response (mean′SD % increase in paw volume) was 10.52′3.12 and 14.50′2.38 respectively, in comparison to the corresponding value of 6.01′1.85 for the untreated control group. These differences in DTH response were statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusion: The study demonstrates that HG shows preferential stimulation of the components of cell-mediated immunity and shows no effect on the humoral immunity.