| Summary: | Magister Scientiae - MSc (Medical BioSciences) === In the past three decades there has been a huge increase in the use of herbal medicine globally.
The active principles of these herbal medicines are mostly unknown with supportive evidence for
safety and efficacy very rare. Septilin is a phytopharmaceutical formulation which is
recommended for the treatment and management of various infections. It has been claimed to
have immunomodulatory actions that potentiates the body's immune response. The
immunomodulatory activity of Septilin has not been well investigated via appropriate in vitro
models. Therefore this study was undertaken to investigate the in vitro effects of Septilin on
biomarkers of specific immune pathways by using WBC. Stimulated and unstimulated WBC
were incubated with the product. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assays were used to screen for
IL-6, IL-10, and IFN? as biomarkers for inflammation, humoral immunity, and cell mediated
immunity, respectively. Results show that the presence of Septilin in LPS stimulated WBC has
no effect on the release of IL-6 and IFN? production but stimulated IL-10 production. Septilin
in unstimulated WBC has no effect on the release of IL-10 and IFN? production but stimulatory
effects on IL-6 production. This study also assessed the effects of Artemisia afra, Aspalathus
linearis (rooibos), and Septilin on inflammatory biomarkers namely, IL-6 and nitric oxide (NO)
using RAW 264.7 cells, a murine macrophage cell line. The results of this study indicate that
Artemisia afra has anti-inflammatory effects while Aspalathus linearis (rooibos) up regulated the
immune system. The study also shows that Septilin has no immunomodulatory effects on RAW
264.7 cells.
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