The effect of Chinese medicine recipe "Bushen-ningxin" on immune function of the
ovariectomized rabbits was investigated
in the present study,in which 24 female New Zealand white rabbits of 3 months old were randomly divided into 4 groups;i.e.normal,sham operated,
ovariectomized and treated group by ovariectomization and infusion with "Bushen-ningxin " recipe.High-cholesterol diet was given to all the rabbits,except those of the normal group,two weeks after operation.While,the treated group was given additionally with medication and the other 3 groups were given with the same amount of distilled water as controls.The lymphocyte proliferation response of peripheral blood in animals was evaluated 12 weeks later by MTT assay and the semi-quantitative RT-PCR assay was employed to analyse the
expression of IL-2 and IL-10 mRNA in spleens.In comparison with the ovariectomized groups,it was found that the "Bushen-ningxin" recipe could significantly increase the lymphocyte prolifeation response of peripheral blood of the experimental animals,and it had also an up-regulatory effect on the expression of IL-12 mRNA,but it showed a down-regulatory effect on the expression of IL-10 mRNA.It suggests that the "Bushen-ningxin" recipe can promote the immune functions of the ovariectomized rabbits and induce the cytokine profile bias from Th2 type to Th1 type.