Alleviation of cyclophosphamide-induced immunosuppression in Wistar rats by onion lectin (Allium cepa agglutinin)

immune-
boosting food. Recent studies have claimed this property due to the presence of bioactive organosulfur
compounds, prebiotic fructo-oligosaccharides and an immunomodulatory protein, lectin (Allium
cepa agglutinin; ACA) (Prasanna and Venkatesh, 2015. Characterization of onion lectin (Allium cepa agglutinin)
as an immunomodulatory protein inducing Th1-type immune response in vitro. Int. Immunopharmacol.
vol. 26, pp. 304–313).
Aim of the study: The aim of this study was to evaluate the immunoprotective properties of ACA in
normal and cyclophosphamide (CP; 100 μg/kg)-induced immunosuppressed Wistar rats.
Materials and methods: Wistar rats were administrated different doses of ACA (1, 10, and 100 μg) to
respective groups in normal as well as immunosuppressed animals. The effect of ACA on the status of
immune organs was assessed by examining the splenic and thymic indices, and histopathological
changes. The biomarkers for humoral immunity (serum IgG and IgA levels) and serum pro-inflammatory
markers (COX-2, TNF-α and IL-10) were measured by ELISA.
Results: ACA showed immunoprotective properties by significantly promoting the restoration of lymphoid
cell count by �6 fold vs. model control (immunosuppressed animals) and promotes the immune
response significantly (�1.5-fold) in CP-induced immunosuppressed animals compared to model control;
production of pro-inflammatory molecules (COX-2 and nitric oxide) and expression levels of immune
regulatory molecule (TNF-α) were elevated in a dose-dependent manner.
Conclusions: The observed in vivo results suggest that ACA has the potential to be used as a nutritional
therapeutic to boost the immune status of immunosuppressed subjects brought about by CP administration.