Effect of a combination of extract from several plants on cell-mediated and humoral immunity of patients with advanced ovarian cancer.

The influence of a plant preparation AdMax (Nulab Inc., Clearwater, FL, USA) on immunity in ovarian cancer patients was studied. The preparation is a combination of dried ethanol/water extracts from roots of Leuzea carthamoides, Rhodiola rosea, Eleutherococcus senticosus and fruits of Schizandra chinensis. Twenty eight patients with stage III-IV epithelial ovarian cancer were treated once with 75 mg/m(2) cisplatin and 600 mg/m(2) cyclophosphamide. Peripheral blood was collected 4 weeks after the chemotherapy. Subclasses of T, B and NK lymphocytes were tested for in the blood samples: CD3, CD4, CD5, CD7, CD8, CD11B, CD16, CD20, CD25, CD38, CD45RA, CD50, CD71 and CD95. Immunoglobulin G, A and M concentrations were also determined. Changes were observed in the following T cell subclasses: CD3, CD4, CD5 and CD8. In patients who took AdMax (270 mg a day) for 4 weeks following the chemotherapy, the mean numbers of the four T cell subclasses were increased in comparison with the mean numbers of the T cell subclasses in patients who did not take AdMax. In patients who took AdMax, the mean amounts of IgG and IgM were also increased. The obtained results suggest that the combination of extracts from adaptogenic plants may boost the suppressed immunity in ovarian cancer patients who are subject to chemotherapy. Copyright 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.