The Effect of Aqueous Extract of Tarragon in Clinical Symptom and Percentage of Th1 Cells in Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis

Background and Objective: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disorder that affected central nervous system (CNS). That is characterized by demyelination, axonal damage and progressive inability. Tarragon is an ancient herb that have some usage in traditional medicine. The present study was designed to evaluate the therapeutic effect of aqueous extract of this plant in Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis (EAE) a widely used animal model for MS. Materials and Method: Eighteen C57BL/6 adult female mice were used and divided into three groups. EAE was induced by using Hook kit and one group were gavaged with 500 mg/kg aqueous extract of Tarragon. Clinical symptoms were recorded daily. After 33 days, the spleen of the mice was removed and the percentage of Th1 cells was analyzed by Flow cytometry technique.Findings: The average severity of the disease in mice treated with tarragon extract (500 mg/kg) was significantly lower in days 24 to 33 than in the PBS treated group (P≤ 0.05). In PBS treated EAE mice, the percentage of Th1 cells in the spleen were significantly higher than those of healthy group (P=0.009). The percentage of Th1 cells in tarragon treated mice was reduced in comparison to the PBS treated group but this decrease was not statistically significant (P=0.064). Conclusion: According to the results, tarragon ameliorated EAE and may be used as a complementary treatment for MS, but its beneficial effect in treatment is independent of changing the percentage of Th1 cells in the spleen.

کلیدواژه ها:

Multiple Sclerosis ، EAE ، Tarragon ، Th1 cells