IMMUNOMODULATING PROPERTIES OF CALENDULA OFFICINALIS AND ECHINACEA ANGUSTIFOLIA EXTRACTIONS IN VIRAL ANTIGEN PRIMED HENS

Abstract

A number of immunomodulatory effects have been attributed to the medicinal plants Calendula officinalis and Echinacea angustifolia; however, little is known about whether treatment with these plants can enhance antigen-specific immunity. The experiment was carried out on 28 Leghorn hens, divided into four equal groups (n=7), subjected each, for seven days, to a differentiated treatment, starting on day 0 and using the same pattern as follows: group I was injected with an alcoholic Calendula officinalis extraction; group II – with an alcoholic Echinacea angustifolia extraction; group III, a control for the extractions – with 70º alcohol and group IV, control with saline (0.5 ml/bird/day). On days 0 and 7 the birds were subcutaneously primed with Newcastle disease vaccine. Blood samples were taken from the wing vein, on days 0, 7 and 14 and anti Newcastle disease antibodies were quantified by haemagglutination inhibition test Natural logarithms (ln) of the antibody titers were calculated and statistically interpreted. The C. officinalis extraction induced a gradually increasing specific humoral activity, persistent after the stimulation, during both primary and booster vaccination while the Echinacea extraction induces an increase during the first phase, but the stimulating effect was not persistent. The active principles in the Calendula extraction positively influenced the anti-Newcastle antibody titers, without attaining the values in the control groups. Injecting the birds with the Echinaceea extraction seems to negatively influence the antibody synthesis, especially during the primary response