Medicinal plant utilization is as old as human life. There are thousands of herbs consumed for medicinal purposes all over the world, especially in east. Their value has not decreased over time and many modern pharmaceuticals have originated from traditional medicinal plants. Studying the reason for their influence is an attractive field of medicine. Among various types of herbs, some function via their immunomodulatory effects. Experiments have shown the regulatory influences of several plants on each type of immune cell, including T cells, B cells, dendritic cells (DCs), macrophages and NK cells. Because of the prominent role of DCs in antigen presentation as the major APC, this review summarizes the immunomodulatory effects of some plants performed through DC effects.
Gallstone is a common biliary disorder with several risk factors. Immune responses and inflammatory cytokines are important in this disease; as a result, some cytokines can be detected in bile fluid. In this research, cytokine gene polymorphisms were studied, and their effects on gallstone formation were evaluated. On 158 gallstone patients and 254 normal subjects, by PCR- RFLP method, IL-4-C590T polymorphism and by ARMS-PCR method, IFN-γ T+874A, TNF-α-A308G, IL-6 G-174C and TGF-β T+869C variants were studied. Pathologic evaluations were done on surgical specimens. There were no significant differences in distribution of evaluated polymorphisms between patient group and normal control group (P > 0.05), except TGF-β +869T allele (P = 0.04, OR = 1.23, 95 % CI = 1-1.79) which was higher in patients with gallstone. Although the pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α and IL-6 may promote gallstone formation, in this study no significant correlation between TNF-α and IL-6 polymorphisms and gallstone formation was seen. It is taught that TGF-β may affect gallbladder cells to promote gallstone formation and higher producer TGF-β +869T allele can be a risk factor of gallstone disease, so further studies would be more elucidative
One reason for genetic variations among human individuals is SNP which may confer diverse disease susceptibility or resistance in a population. Genetic variations in a key immunoregulatory agent can manifest various immunological responses, such as graft rejection. In fact, the outcome of organ transplantation can be impacted by several genetic causes including polymorphisms in genes encoding cytokines and costimulatory molecules in the donor or recipient. Thus, it can be helpful to contemplate the SNPs relating to these immunological determinants in order to achieve an improved transplantation therapy.
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