Advance Access Publication 13 December 2006 Original Article eCAM 2007;4(4)419–423 doi:10.1093/ecam/nel094 Immunomodulatory Activity of Chlorophytum borivilianum Sant. F Mayank Thakur, Shilpi Bhargava and V. K. Dixit Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Dr H.S. Gour Vishwavidyalaya, Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, India Chlorophytum borivilianum Santapau & Fernandes (Liliaceae) is a very popular herb in traditional Indian medicine and constitute a group of herbs used as ‘Rasayan’ or adaptogen. Ethanolic extract of the roots and its sapogenin were evaluated for their immunomodulatory activity. Effect of azathioprine- induced myelosuppresion and administration of extracts on hematological and serological parameters was determined. Administration of extracts greatly improved survival against Candida albicans infection. An increase in delayed-type hypersensitivity response (DTH), % neutrophil adhesion and in vivo phagocytosis by carbon clearance method was observed after treatment with extracts. Immunostimulant activity of ethanolic extract was more pronounced as compared to sapogenins. The results, thus justifies the traditional use of C. borivilianum as a rasayana drug. Keywords: Chlorophytum borivilianum – immunomodulator – rasayana – Safed Musli Introduction Scientific literature is continuously reporting plant drugs having immunomodulatory activity. Most of the leads for this activity are from traditional medicines from different parts of the world (1,2). The Indian system of medicine ‘Ayurveda’, conceptualizes a category of drug activity known as ‘Rasayana’. The word Rasayana is composed of two words ‘Rasa’ meaning elixir and ‘Ayana’ meaning house. The word therefore signifies property of the plant that helps to reju- venate the system, i.e. adaptogenic activity (3). ‘Rasayan’ therapy prevents diseases and counteracts the aging process by means of optimization or homeostasis. Many plants have been extensively used as ‘Rasayana’ drugs in Ayurveda for the management of neurodegenerative diseases, as rejuvenators, immunomodulators, aphrodisiac and nutritional supplements (4–7). Safed Musli has been described in ancient Indian literature such as Bhavaprakash nighantu, Rasendra Sarsangrah, Raja Ballabh Nighantu as ‘Vajikaran’ or aphrodisiac which is a special type of immunomodulator (8–10). Safed Musli is a controversial drug and various herbs are employed as Safed Musli by practitioners of Indian system of medicine. One of the popular and marketed herb under this nomenclature For reprints and all correspondence: Prof. V. K. Dixit, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Dr H. S. Gour Vishwavidyalaya, Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, India. Tel: þ91-7582264582; E-mail: vkdixit111@rediffmail.com is Chlorophytum borivilianum Santapau & Fernandes (Liliaceae) (11,12). Since the roots of C. borivilianum are employed as ‘Rasayana’ (13,14) and also because Safed Musli is a constituent of ‘Chyawanprash’, an outstanding rejuvenator (8). It was considered worthwhile to investigate this drug for immunomodulatory activity. Materials and Methods Plant Material C. borivilianum roots were obtained from Jeevan Agro farms (Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, India). A herbarium of the source was made and identified. A voucher specimen no. CB-MT16 has been submitted at the departmental herbarium of Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences Dr H.S. Gour Vishwavidyalaya, Sagar (MP, India). The roots were dried in sunlight and coarsely powdered for extraction. Extraction and Fractionation Powdered roots were defatted with petroleum ether (60–80 C). Ethanolic extract of the drug was prepared by extracting defatted roots with 95% ethanol in Soxhlet extractor (yield 16% w/w). For isolation of sapogenin, ethanolic extract as obtained above was suspended in water (100 ml). It was then extracted with n-butanol (300 ml), the volume of n-butanol 2006 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by-nc/2.0/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.