In vivo immunomodulatory effect of wild carrot oil and its fractions

Abstract

Daucus carota L. ssp. carota (wild carrot) oil extract (DCOE) and fractions (F1, F2, F3 and F4) were recently shown to exhibit in vitro and in vivo anticancer activity [1,2]. The aim of this study is to examine the in vivo immunomodulatory effect of DCOE and its fractions on the levels of IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-10, IL-17, and VEGF in spleen tissues of BALB/c mice. Animals were injected with 200 mg/Kg of DCOE or fractions and spleens were collected at 6 and 24 hrs post treatment. Whereas, DCOE and F1 did not induce a significant increase in IFN-γ levels at either interval, F2, F3, F4 and LPS caused 6.7, 4.6, 3.5 and 2.3 fold increases, respectively. The level of TNF-α displayed 2.4, 2.8, 6.2, 3.8, 2.5 and 3.1 fold increase compared to control 24 hrs post treatment with DCOE, F1, F2, F3, F4 and LPS, respectively. DCOE, F1 and F4 induced a 1.3 fold increase and F2 and F3 induced a 1.4 fold increase in the IL-10 levels, 6 hrs post treatment. However, no significant elevation of IL-10 was observed 24 hrs post injection of F2, F3 and F4 fractions. While 1.7, 1.6, and 1.75 fold increases in IL-17 were observed 6 hrs post treatment with F2, F3 and F4 respectively, these increments did not reach significance after 24 hrs. In addition, F1 and F2 were shown to inhibit the production levels of spleen VEGF. In conclusion, the in vivo antitumor activity of DCOE and fractions may be attributed to the enhancement of IFN-γ, TNF-α and IL-17 production and down regulation in the level of VEGF.