Prosopis strombulifera (LAM.) BENTH MODULATES IMMUNE CELL ACTIVATION

ABBA ROMINA; PERSIA ANDRES; CARGNELUTTI DIEGO; HAPON M. BELÉN; MACKERN OBERTI, JP; CARLOS GAMARRA LUQUES

Mendoza

Congreso; Sociedad de Biologia de Cuyo 2016; 2016

Sociedad de Biologia de Cuyo

Prosopis strombulifera (LAM.) BENTH MODULATES IMMUNE CELL ACTIVATION Abba R, Persia FA, Cargnelutti DE, Hapon MB, Mackern-Oberti JP, Gamarra-Luques C. Laboratorio de Fitomedicina (IMBECU-CONICET). Instituto de Fisiología (FCMédicas ? UNCuyo). E-mail: cgamarraluques@gmail.com. Autoimmune diseases are characterized by alterations affecting innate and adaptive immune cells. Although major progress has been made in elucidating the molecular mechanisms responsible for autoimmunity, current therapies for autoimmune diseases have not considerably improved. The aim of this work was to assess the immunosupressive effects of the native plant Prosopis strombulifera (Lam.) Benth (Ps) by in vitro assays. Splenocytes were obtained from C57BL/6 mice. Parameters of splenocytes and CD4+ T cell activation such as CD69 expression by FACS after Concanavalin A (ConA) stimulation were used to evaluate the immune modulation of Ps from cell cultures (24hs). IFN-ɤ production after ConA stimulation was analyzed by ELISA. Interestingly, we found that Ps decreased the frequency of activated (CD69+) splenocytes after ConA stimulation compared to control cultures (Ps: 30.91±1.32 vs control: 11.06 ± 0.38; p=0.0048). Similarly, Ps impaired CD4+ activation after ConA stimulation (Ps: 51.98 ± 1.94 vs control: 16.08 ± 0.03; p=0.0029). Although not statistically significant, when IFN-ɤ production in response to ConA was evaluated, we found that splenocyte cultures in the presence of Ps displayed lower levels than control cultures (Ps: 249.3 ± 92.25 vs control: 70.66 ± 7.85; p=0.0967). These data suggest that Ps impaired immune cell activation and reduced the production of the pro-inflammatory cytokine IFN-ɤ which in turn may decrease immune responses. Although much work is needed to completely understand underlying mechanism of this immune suppression, our results highlight the immunotherapeutic potential of Ps in immune mediated diseases.