Effect of the Traditional Korean Immunomodulating Formulation, Gamguntang (GGT), on Experimental Thyroiditis Model

Abstract

The crude herbal formulation, Gamgungtang (GGT), is an immunomodulator showing marked down-regulation of several experimental autoimmune diseases. In this study, its effect on different experimental models of thyroid disease was investigated. Although very effective at preventing thyroid infiltrates in mice immunized with mouse deglycosylated thyroglobulin and complete Freund's adjuvant and in spontaneous models of thyroiditis, it completely failed to modify experimental autoimmune thyroiditis (EAT) induced in mice immunized with mouse thyroglobulin and lipopolysaccharide. There was no significant shift in the observed isotypes of anti-mouse thyroglobulin antibodies and only anti-mouse thyroglobulin antibodies in the spontaneous model were completely down-modulated by the GGT. One surprising fact to emerge was that GGT-treated donor mice, although protected from thyroid lesions themselves, were still able to transfer EAT showing that they must have been effectively primed while being treated with GGT. It is possible that the drug down modulated EAT by interfering with the trafficking of primed effector cells.

Key Words :

• Autoimmunity
• Tel
• Cytotoxic T lymphocyte
• In vivo animal model
• oriental herbal extract
• Gamgungtang
• Glycyrrhizae Radix (Glyrrhiza uralensis Fischer; Glycyrrhiza Fissch)
• Black bean (Glycine max L. Merr)
• Angelicae radix (Angelica gigas Nakai)
• Cnidii Rhizoma (Cnidium officinale Makino)

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This work was supported by Vascular and Natural Products MRC, KOSEF, Korea.