Abstract

Many studies have showed that plant extracts possess immunomodulatory and anti-cancer effects. In this study, these effects of Scrophularia megalantha extract, a native plant in Iran, were investigated in vitro and in vivo. Microculture tetrazolium test (MTT assay) was employed to evaluate the effects of S. megalantha on human Jurkat (lymphoblast-like) cell line cytotoxicity. Furthermore, delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) and hemagglutination tests in mice employed to evaluate the effects of S. megalantha on cellular and humoral responses, respectively. In vitro exposures of the Jurkat cells with various concentrations ofS. megalantha extract (0.05, 0.1 and 0.2 mg/mL) significantly suppressed their growth in a dose-dependent manner. The maximum tumor cell growth inhibition was observed with 0.2 mg/mL of the extract. Moreover, the production of specific antibody to sheep red blood cell (SRBC) antigen in immunized mice significantly increased by different concentrations of S. megalantha extract. In conclusion, our results indicated that S. megalantha extract could be an immunomodulator plant and a good candidate for further investigations in order to develop a natural compound as an immunomodulator and anticancer agent.

Key words:  Scrophularia megalantha, extract, tumor growth, immune response.