TY - JOUR T1 - Alpha-phellandrene Promotes Immune Responses in Normal Mice Through Enhancing Macrophage Phagocytosis and Natural Killer Cell Activities JF - In Vivo JO - In Vivo SP - 809 LP - 814 VL - 27 IS - 6 AU - JEN-JYH LIN AU - JU-HWA LIN AU - SHU-CHUN HSU AU - SHU-WEN WENG AU - YI-PING HUANG AU - NOU-YING TANG AU - JAUNG-GENG LIN AU - JING-GUNG CHUNG Y1 - 2013/11/01 UR - http://iv.iiarjournals.org/content/27/6/809.abstract N2 - α-Phellandrene, a natural compound from natural plants, has been used in the food and perfume industry. We investigated the effects of α-phellandrene on the immune responses on normal murine cells in vivo. Normal BALB/c mice were treated orally with or without α-phellandrene at 0, 1, 5 and 25 mg/kg and olive oil as a positive control for two weeks. Results indicated that α-phellandrene did not change the weight of animals when compared to olive oil (vehicle for α-phellandrene)-treated groups. After flow cytometric assay of blood samples it was shown that α-phellandrene increased the percentage of CD3 (T-cell marker), CD11b (monocytes) and MAC3 (macrophages), but reduced the percentage of CD19 (B-cell marker) cell surface markers in α-phellandrene-treated groups, compared to untreated groups. α-Phellandrene promoted the phagocytosis of macrophages from blood samples at 5 and 25 mg/kg treatment and promoted natural killer cell activity from splenocytes at 25 mg/kg. Furthermore, α-phellandrene increased B-cell proliferation at 25 mg/kg with or without stimulation but promoted cell proliferation only at 25 mg/kg treatment with stimulation. Based on these observations, 25 mg/kg with α-phellandrene seems to have promoted immune responses in this murine model. ER -