10/24/2018 / By RJ Jhonson
A study published in BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine found that Korean angelica (Angelica gigas Nakai) can stimulate your body’s immune system to such an extent that it can be used as a treatment for cancer, validating the plant’s use as a natural treatment in Eastern medicine.
The study was prompted by previous findings on Korean angelica’s (also called Dang Gui) ability to activate the body’s immune response. Specifically, the researchers wanted to know if these effects can elicit anti-cancer responses in the body.
The researchers prepared a water-soluble immune-stimulatory component of A. gigas (ISAg). They examined how it activated immune cells. The authors also investigated how ISAg induced a cytotoxic effect using natural killer (NK) cells and natural killer T (NKT) cells on mice injected with melanoma cells.
In their in vitro experiment, they found that the administration of ISAg caused the expression of immune-related genes, as well as the secretion of nitric oxide (NO). Aside from relaxing blood vessels and enabling better blood flow, NO is also produced by various cells in the immune system as part of the immune response to pathogens.
In their in vivo experiment, they induced cancer in mice using a melanoma cell injection. The mice were then treated with ISAg a week later. The treatment lasted for two weeks. After this, the mice were sacrificed and tissues from their tumors were taken as samples.
The researchers found that ISAg activates dendritic cells (DC) and macrophages, both part of the immune system, and causes them to secrete cytokine IL-12. This cytokine plays an important role in activating both NK and NKT cells, the actions that lead to ISAg-mediated cytotoxicity that kills the melanoma cells. (Related: Boosting immune system with natural methods offers many health benefits.)
The researchers concluded that ISAg has a potent ability to stimulate the immune system and activate NK and NKT cells to attack cancerous tumors.
Korean angelica is used in Eastern cultures as a medicinal plant that can help with many types of conditions. Here are some of them:
Discover more medicinal plants with anticancer properties at Herbs.news. today
Sources include:
Tagged Under: alternative medicine, Angelica gigas, Chinese medicine, dang gui, herbal medicine, korean angelica, melanoma, natural cures, natural medicine