## 4 Discussion  
In this study, we demonstrated that treatment with the mixed herbal formula hemomine reversed CPA-induced myelosuppression and immunosuppression in a dose-dependent  
Figure 3: Representative histopathological images of the spleen and left submandibular LN from intact or CPA-induced immunosuppressionpressed mice. All hematoxylin-eosin stained. CPA: Cyclophosphamide, HM: Hemomine (60% LIG305), LN: Lymph node. Scale bar: 400 μm. (**A**) Splenic histopathology. WP: white pulp, RP: red pulp, Arrow: central arteriole. (**B**) LN histopathology. CO: cortex; MS: medullary sinus, FL: follicle. manner. CPA therapy was found to promote reductions in body weight, immune organ indices, hematological parameters, serum and splenic cytokine levels, and NK cell activities, thereby indicating toxicity and myelosuppressive properties [34]. However, in the CPA-treated mice subsequently administered HM, we detected dose-dependent increases in the markers reduced by CPA, which were comparable to those obtained with the positive control \(\beta\)-glucan, thereby indicating that these substances can attenuate the toxicity and myelosuppressive effects of CPA. Previously, polysaccharides, particularly \(\beta\)-glucan, have been shown to enhance immune function and are considered to have potential utility as effective agents that could be administered to ameliorate the immunosuppressive effects associated with anti-cancer, sepsis, and high-dose chemotherapy, with few side effects [28; 35]. Similar to \(\beta\)-glucan, we established that HM has potential as a promising hematopoietic agent and immunomododulator. Immunomodulators are substances that aid the immune system in restoring homeostasis in a beneficial way and are being developed to enhance immune responses to infection and cancer, as well as to reduce the immunological response to transplanted organs and to treat autoimmune diseases [36]. Furthermore, immunomododulators are utilized in anti-cancer chemotherapy to prevent myelosuppression and immunosuppression. Many of the currently used chemotherapeutic drugs, including CPA, can cause severe myelosuppression and immunodeficiency, which to varying extents limits the optimization of drug treatments [2]. Although CPA, which contributes to retarding tumor growth by reducing the levels of immune response effectors, is acknowledged to be particularly beneficial as a part of immunosuppressive therapy, [37], its use has been linked to a range of adverse side effects, including nausea, vomiting, paneleukopenia, nonregenerative anemia, and thrombocytopenia [29; 38]. Consequently, immunomododulators should ideally be co-administered to reduce or eliminate these undesirable effects. However, given that the use of currently administered immunomododulators also tends to be associated with certain side effects, including fatigue, diarrhea, and low blood cell counts, there have been concerted efforts to identify natural compounds, such polysaccharides, that can reduce myelosuppression and enhance immunological responses [39]. Among the numerous clinical hematological indicators, WBCs, RBCs, and platelets are routinely employed to assess immunological activity and infection. WBCs, which include granulocytes, monocytes, and lymphocytes, serve as biomarkers of immunological activation and infection, whereas RBCs are involved in tissue oxygenation and cell communication with platelets and macrophages, both of which play essential roles in the immune response, with the former serving as an indicator of the response to foreign chemicals [40]. Myelosuppression, also referred to as bone marrow suppression, is a reduction in bone marrow activity, which leads to a reduction in blood cell synthesis. CPA has the effect of suppressing the activity of antioxidant enzymes in the bone marrow, thereby promoting oxidative stress, and increases myelosupression and anemia by lowering RBC, WBC, and PLT levels [41].