Natural immunity boosters: Clinical trial reports

Background 

Proper nutrition enhances immunity and ensures a robust immune system which is very much essential in this COVID-19 pandemic situation. Health drinks having the vital and optimum required vitamins and minerals have become important to build and maintain the body’s natural immunity. Several naturally occurring phytoconstituents have shown immune-boosting, antiviral, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory effects. These include Vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin C, vitamin D, folic acid, zinc, curcumin, cinnamaldehyde, probiotics, selenium, lactoferrin, quercetin, etc. Formulating some of these phytonutrients in the right combination may help to boost the immune system, prevent the infection and reduce the spread of the disease progression to a severe stage, and thus give prophylactic and therapeutic support against COVID-19. MULMINA Amla Orange Health drink contains extracts Amla and Orange. Vitamin C present in both Amla and orange has an antioxidant property that reduces oxidative stress and prevents cell damage. Amla improves immunity and restores the altered levels of IL-2 and IFN-γ and boost immunity. Orange is rich in polyphenols and vitamins which have antioxidant activity and immunity-boosting capacity and also helpful in relieving stress as is evident from the conducted in-vitro clinical trials ¹. 

Study design 1

• The study was designed to determine the immune-booster activity of Mulmina® Amla Orange against LPS induced TNF-α, IL-1β and MIP-1α in primary dendritic cells.
• Primary dendritic cells were obtained from C57 mice by standard procedure.
• The non-toxic concentrations of the test substance was selected for studying the efficacy on primary dendritic cells, after evaluating the cytotoxicity using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)- 2,5-diphenyltetrazolium  bromide  (MTT).
• The phagocytic potential of the test substances were studied using a 96-well phagocytosis assay kit on macrophages cells that were treated with Mulmina® Amla Orange at non-cytotoxic concentrations.

Method 1:

The Primary dendritic cells were exposed to the toxic substance LPS followed by treatment with Mulmina® Amla Orange for 4 hours and the immune markers such as TNF-α, IL-1β and MIP-1 bound to the cell supernatant were estimated.

Results 1

Mulmina® Amla Orange showed inhibition of LPS-induced TNF-α by 57.07±3.4%, LPS-induced IL-1β generation by 59.96±1.0% and also MIP-1-α generation by 52.45±2.3 at test doses 800 μg/mL,

Mulmina® Amla Orange exhibited increased phagocytic potential of RAW macrophages by 65.80±2.8% at 800 μg/mL over control.

Discussion 

Few pro-inflammatory cytokines like IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α and chemokines which are upregulated including MIP-1α, MCP-1 and GRO/KC are involved in the process of pathological pain. COVID-19 showed elevated levels of IL-2, IL-7, G-CSF, CXCL10, MCP-1, MIP-1α, TNF-α, and IL-6, which result in severe hyper inflammation-causing lung damage. Hence, determining the levels of these immune markers become essential for determining the effectiveness of any treatment ². In the current study, Mulmina® Amla Orange showed inhibition of LPS-induced TNF-α, IL-1β generation and also MIP-1-α generation thus proving the effectiveness in protecting the dendrocytes ³.

Studies have shown that phagocytosis is an effective and efficient process that results in the generation of the phagolysosome and a harsh environment for most microorganisms. Also, phagocytes such as macrophages, produce reactive nitrogen species (RNS) which cause microbial destruction and destroys pathogens and limits the spread of infection ³. Thus, the significant increase in the phagocytic potential of macrophages as compared to control in a dose-dependent manner reflects the immunomodulatory effect of  Mulmina® Amla Orange ⁴.

Conclusion

The above studies reveal that Mulmina®Amla orange has significant antioxidant, anti-inflammatory properties and immunomodulatory effects which may be beneficial in enhancing immunity and helping to combat the complexities in patients infected by COVID-19 in this pandemic situation.

References:

1. Mulmina, Scientific updates,Update-1, 1-64. 
2. Gilead Ebiegberi Forcados, A. M., Olusola Olalekan Oladipo, Sunday Makama and Clement Adebajo Meseko. Metabolic Implications of Oxidative Stress and Inflammatory Process in SARS-CoV-2 Pathogenesis: Therapeutic Potential of Natural Antioxidants. Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol., 2021, Vo 11 , Article 654813, 1-11.
3. Jun-Ming Zhang and Jianxiong An. Cytokines, Inflammation and Pain. Int Anesthesiol Clin. 2007 Spring; 2002, 45(2):, 27–37.
4. Rosales, E. U.-Q. a. C. Control of Phagocytosis by Microbial Pathogens. Front. Immunol., 2017, 8, 1368, 1-23.