The Immune Enhancing Effects Of Malunggay
You must have heard of noodles, bread, and tea and other food strengthened with malunggay (Moringa Oleifera) or have malunggay as the main ingredient. Malunggay fortification is typically done to make food more healthy. This wants scientific papers and gray literature reported the many nutritional and medical benefits of malunggay.
However, doctors have not completely made use of the information on the goodness of malunggay. Claims about the medical advantages of malunggay are still considered to be lacking in solid clinical proof. It has actually also been noted that there are some flaws in the speculative styles used in research studies on malunggay.
Plant-derived health care formulas, such as those that could be obtained from malunggay, need scientific-based testing to establish their effectivity and safety. One of the criteria used to examine bioactive plant items is through using immune reaction tests.
This task intends to offer reliable scientific validation information for malunggay as a source of immunomodulating substances. Immunomodulation might show whether an individual's immune reaction is stimulated or suppressed.
Immunostimulation or stimulation of the body immune system is necessary to combat tension, diseases due to transmittable representatives or ecological elements, tumor growth, and other conditions resulting from weakened immune system. On the other hand, immunosuppression or inhibition, or suppression of the body immune system, is required by patients with hyper immune responses, such as in cases of allergic reactions and autoimmune diseases.
Malunggay is stated to have immunomodulatory properties. Nevertheless, there have been extremely restricted research studies on the immunomodulatory activities of malunggay. Therefore, a substance with immunomodulatory homes from malunggay would be exceptionally beneficial.
In order to supply required information on the potential of malunggay as an immunomodulating agent, Dr. Elena S. Catap of the Institute of Biology, University of the Philippines Diliman worked with Dr. Christine Hernandez of the Institute of Chemistry, University of the Philippines Diliman in a project financially supported by the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (DOST-PCHRD).
In this job, bioactive components from the leaves of malunggay were first prepared through fundamental crude extraction strategy utilizing various solvents such as ethyl alcohol, hexane, and ethyl acetate. After crude extraction, immunoactive parts from these extracts were more separated and isolated through the successive use of chromatographic techniques.
At each phase of substance seclusion, immune-testing was done to confirm the immunomodulatory residential or commercial properties of the fractions. In vitro methods utilizing immune responsive cells such as lymphocutes and macrophages from mice were at first used. During the in vitro experiments, the results revealed that the part originated from the hexane extract induced the substantially greatest expansion of lymphocytes.
As such, the project concentrated on the immune-enhancing part in malunggay leaves. In vitro testing was repeatedly done until the most bioactive element was acquired utilizing high performance liquid chromatography. In addition to cellular screening of the compounds, in vivo experiments, in which compounds of interest were straight applied in experimental animals, were carried out to acquire information on the efficient and safe concentration that might cause immune-enhancement.
In this experiment, the immune-enhancing roles of the hexane constituents were evaluated utilizing a battery of immune action tests. Phagocytosis, the procedure where foreign materials and pathogens are ingested by our body's macrophages, was determined. This specification exhibits the capability to withstand infections. Moreover, the proliferation of lymphocytes is a measure of a person's resistance to fight disease-causing bacteria.
The capability of macrophages to produce superoxide anions, an immune mechanism used to kill pathogens, was likewise determined. Assessment of liver and kidney samples from experimental animals is also being done to additional confirm the safety of the malunggay components. All the data acquired proved the boosted health and immune status of the experimental animals and the safe use of the specific malunggay constituent.
It is expected that the results from this study will be utilized by pharmaceutical companies in herbal and nutraceutical formulas and drug development ventures. Furthermore, this research study will match the other research works on malunggay, that include anti-diabetic, anti-microbial, anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, anti-hypertensive, antioxidant and chemotherapeutic potentials of the plant's constituents. Ultimately, these will all form part of the scientific basis for the advancement of a biomarker constituent with standardized dose that is of medical value.
