the effect of daphne mucronata extract on tnf- a and its receptors on cultured human monocytes

introduction: daphne species has both pharmaceutical applications and anti tumor activity. it has been shown that the extract of daphne mucronata is effective in decreasing the size of breast adenocarcinoma in rats. we investigated the mechanism of action and the effects of the extract on tnf-a and tnf-a receptors on cultured human monocytes. material and methods: the breast tumors were induced in rats by dmba. the effect of oral administration of the extract on tumor size was studied. human monocytes were isolated by adhesion and density gradient procedures. tnf- a in cultured media were measured by sensitive biotin-streptoavid in ellsa method, with and without the presence of lps and radio iodination was used for tnf-a receptor determination on human cultured monocytes. results: oral administration of daphne mucronata extract during 20 consecutive days reduced significantly the diameter of tumor or eliminated it totally. on the basis of hest analysis, our data indicated that the plant extract at various doses did increase tnf- a release and in a time dependent manner decreased the tnf-a receptors in cultured human monocytes in less than 2 hours significantly (p<0.001). conclusion: daphne mucronate extract (h2o/etoh) decreases the size of breast tumors in rat adenocarcinoma. our data support that the extract probably acts through increasing tnf- a release and decreasing tnf- a receptors on cultured human monocytes.