OBJECTIVETo observe the modulation effect of a concoction of Chinese herb drugs on immune dysfunction in severely burned rats.

METHODSOne hundred healthy Wistar rats were randomly divided into A group (n = 30, with Chinese herb drug feeding after burns), B group (n = 30, with bouillon feeding after burns), C group (n = 30, with ordinary feeding after burns), and D group (n = 10, with sham burns as normal controls). The rats in A, B and C groups were subjected to 30% TBSA full-thickness burns and received conventional treatment. The rats in A group received 2 ml of Chinese herbal drug at 37 degrees C by gavage two times a day beginning from 2 postburn-hours(PBH). The rats in B group received 2 ml bouillon by gavage instead, and otherwise treatment was the same as A group, while the rats in C group were not fed by gavage. The activity of natural killer cell and T lymphocyte, and the levels of IgA, IgG, IgM, C3, C4 in A, B, C groups were examined on 3, 7, 14 PBD, and these indices were also determined in D group.

RESULTSCompared with D group, the amount of the CD3+, CD4+ lymphocyte, the ratio of the CD4+/CD8+, the level of IgA, IgG, IgM, C3, C4, the activity of NK cells, and the density of the sIgA in A, B, C groups were obviously decreased, but the amount of the CD8+ were obviously increased (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). Furthermore, the above indices in A group improved more quickly when compared with B and C groups.

CONCLUSIONThe concoction of Chinese herb drugs can improve the distribution of T lymphocyte subsets, increase the activity of NK cells, promote the secretion of sIgA in intestinal mucous membrane and promote recovery of IgM, IgG, C3, C4 levels, thereby improves the immune function of the body.