Preliminary study on immunological and behavioural effects of Thymus broussonetii Boiss., an endemic species in Morocco
Author: Elhabazi K, Dicko A, Desor F, Dalal A, Younos C, Soulimani R.
Source:
Journal of ethnopharmacology, 103(3), 413-419.
In the present work, we had tried to evaluate the immunotropic and behavioural
effects of Thymus broussonetii Boiss. So, we tested the neurostimulant effects of
four extracts. This preliminary study allowed to identify both the
immunostimulant and the neurotropic antistress effects of the studied extracts.
Among the four extracts, only the aqueous and ethyl acetate ones showed an
apparent effect on the tested biological activities, whereas the butanolic
extract and the essential oil did not show any interesting effect (data not
shown). These results showed that the aqueous and ethyl extracts of this endemic
species are of interest for two reasons: stimulation of the immunizing system and
protection against the stress by a neurotropic activity. Thyme extracts increased
in vivo the number of leucocyte categories studied including polynuclears, total
lymphocytes, TCD4+, TCD8+ and NK cells. These data suggest that the
intraperitoneal administration of Thymus broussonetii extract has a potent direct
effect on leucocytes in vivo. The elevation of leucocyte and thrombocyte counts
produced by thyme in the peripheral blood was already reported in the literature.
These results could be of practical importance in the field of phytotherapy in
the treatment of some cases of human immunodeficiency such as cancer, leukaemia
and AIDS.