Baicalin from the extract of Scutellaria baicalensis affects the innate immunity and apoptosis in leukocytes of children with acute lymphocytic leukemia.

Scutellariae Radix (root of Scutellaria baicalensis) has a long history of application in traditional and in modern herbal medications. The major components of Scutellariae Radix are baicalin, baicalein, wogonoside and wogonin. Accumulating evidence demonstrates that Scutellaria has immunomodulatory effects and possesses compelling anticancer potential. Treatment of peripheral blood leukocytes (PBLs) with Scutellaria extract (SBE) enriched in baicalin, reduced viability of PBLs obtained from patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). SBE had no impact on the survival of healthy, control leukocytes. The immune system modulation by SBE resulted in increased production of IFNγ in PBLs, and reduced TNFα and IL-10 production in bone marrow cells (BMC), in ALL patients. SBE stimulated the nonspecific antiviral immunity, assessed by resistance of PBLs and BMC to vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) infection. SBE showed pro-apoptotic activity in NALM-6 cell line (B-type human leukemia). The number of cells expressing annexin V increased from 6% in control cultures to 29% and 52% after treatment with 100 μg/ml and 200 μg/ml respectively. Increased percentage of apoptotic cells was observed when cells were treated with corresponding concentration of baicalin. SBE enhanced apoptosis of PBLs in BMC of leukemic children. The percentage of PBLs that underwent apoptosis and mean annexin V expression increased from 11% in the control to 17% and 24% for the doses of 100 μg/ml and 200 μg/ml respectively. Importantly, SBE did not induce apoptosis of PBLs in the healthy, control group.