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Artesunate inhibits proliferation of naïve CD4+ T cells but enhances function of effector T cells

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Abstract

Artesunate is an artemisinin derivative from Artemisia annua and is being applied as a first-line drug for malaria treatment. In addition to anti-malarial effects, anti-cancer, anti-viral, and anti-inflammatory activities have been reported for artemisinin derivatives. In this study, we investigated the effects of artesunate on naïve T cell activation and Th1/Th2 differentiation. Artesunate inhibited the proliferation of CD4+ T cells and the production of IL-2, T cell growth factor. Moreover, artesunate reduced the expression of cell surface protein CD25 (IL-2 receptor alpha chain) and CD69 on CD4+ T cells. Artesunate showed inhibitory effects on naïve T cell activation but artesunate increased the production of IFN-γ and IL-4 under Th1 and Th2 skewed condition respectively. Therefore, these results suggest that artesunate has a negative mitogenic effect on CD4+ T cells but reinforces the function of effector T cells.

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Acknowledgments

This study was financially supported by Chonnam National University, 2011.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Pharmacy & Research Institute of Drug Development, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, 500-757, Republic of Korea

    Sung Ho Lee, Ik-Soo Lee & Bok Yun Kang

  2. College of Pharmacy, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Young-Chang Cho

  3. Department of Food & Nutrition, Mokpo National University, Mokpo, Jeonnam, Republic of Korea

    Kyung Hee Kim

  4. College of Pharmacy, CHA University, Seongnam, Gyeonggi, Republic of Korea

    Hyun Jin Choi

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  1. Sung Ho Lee
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  2. Young-Chang Cho
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  3. Kyung Hee Kim
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  6. Bok Yun Kang
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Correspondence to Bok Yun Kang.

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Lee, S.H., Cho, YC., Kim, K.H. et al. Artesunate inhibits proliferation of naïve CD4+ T cells but enhances function of effector T cells. Arch. Pharm. Res. 38, 1195–1203 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12272-014-0491-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12272-014-0491-5

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