A Chinese herbal decoction, Danggui Buxue Tang, activates extracellular signal‐regulated kinase in cultured T‐lymphocytes

Abstract

Danggui Buxue Tang (DBT) is prepared from Radix Astragali and Radix Angelicae Sinensis. This Chinese herbal decoction has been shown to stimulate the proliferation of T-lymphocytes; however, the action mechanism of this stimulation has not been revealed. In cultured T-lymphocytes, application of DBT markedly induced the cell proliferation, the release of interleukin-2, -6 and -10, as well as the phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK). The pre-treatment of ERK inhibitor blocked the DBT-induced immune responses. In addition, the polysaccharide-enriched fraction of DBT showed marked responses on the cultured T-lymphocytes suggesting the important role of DBT polysaccharide in triggering such immune responses.