DOI: https://doi.org/10.55373/mjchem.v24i4.144

Keywords: Begonia medicinalis, Moringa oleifera, phagocytotic macrophage, IFN-γ, TNF-α, immunomodulators

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that the extracts of Begonia medicinalis and Moringa oleifera possessed immunomodulatory properties. This study aims to determine the effective dose of ethanolic extracts of Begonia medicinalis combined with Moringa oleifera in modulating macrophage phagocytotic activity and interferon gamma (IFN-γ) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) cytokine levels in rats infected with Staphylococcus aureus. The test animals were randomly divided into 5 groups. The negative control group was given carboxymethyl cellulosa sodium (CMC-Na), positive control group was given stimuno®, and treatment groups were given a combination of B. medicinalis and M. oleifera ethanolic extracts with doses of 100:100, 200:100 and 300:100 mg/kg BW, respectively. On the eighth day, the rats were sensitized with Staphylococcus aureus by intraperitoneal injection. After one hour, the peritonial fluid was taken from the peritoneal cavity to determine macrophage phagocytotic activity and blood was taken from intracardiovascular section to measure IFN-γ and TNF-α levels. The combined extracts of 100:100 mg/kg BW exhibited the highest percentage of phagocytotic activity (88.63% ± 5.22), IFN-γ (74.18±6.75 pg/mL) and TNF-α levels (15.83±1.48 pg/mL) compared to other treatments. Further statistical analysis showed the significant difference on each parameter between combined extract of 100:100 mg/kg BW and negative control (p<0.05). As conclusion, the combined extract of 100:100 mg/kg BW has activity as an immunomodulator based on macrophage phagocytotic activity and IFN-γ/TNF-α cytokine levels.