Abstract

The consumption of herbal medicine and herbal medicinal products has been on the rise lately. This has led to an increase in research on herbal medicine and its different formulations to gain more knowledge in their constituents, therapeutic effects, its mechanism, and their undesired or toxic effects. The purpose of this study was to evaluate toxicity profile, phytochemical constituents, microbial quality and immunomodulatory properties of Goko cleanser®, Beta cleanser® and Weifa body defense mixtures®. Acute oral toxicity, phytochemical screening and the microbial quality was evaluated. The immunomodulatory activities of the herbal mixtures were studied using the Carbon Clearance Test, Cyclophosphamide Induced Neutropenia, Delayed-type Hypersensitivity Test and Humoral Antibody Assay with the Sheep Erythrocytes as antigen. The result indicated that the herbal mixtures showed no toxic effect on the test animals. The phytochemical analysis showed an adequate presence of immunomodulatory phytochemicals. The result also revealed that Beta cleanser® was contaminated with S. aureus and E. coli. The three test herbal mixtures, at doses tested, increased the phagocytic index by stimulating the reticuloendothelial cells and increasing their phagocytosis ability. The test herbal mixtures also showed significant protection against cyclophosphamide-induced neutropenia by increasing the depleted levels of leucocytes. The herbal mixtures aided the mobilization of macrophages and memory T cells as seen in the result of the Delayed-Type Hypersensitivity Test. The result of the humoral antibody test showed that the herbal mixtures exhibited a dose-dependent stimulatory effect on B cell maturation and differentiation into antibody-secreting plasma cells.

Key words: Immunomodulatory, Phytochemistry, Microbial Quality, Toxicity profile, Herbal Formulation.