JPH10147537A - Immunological function improving agent - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain the subject improving agent having immunological function improving effect and excellent percutaneous absorbability, safety, etc., and producible at a low cost by using a plant selected from peach, horse chestnut tree, luffa and apricot, its extracted liquid or its extract as an active component. SOLUTION: A plant selected from peach, horse chestnut tree, luffa and apricot is dried and crushed or extracted with water and/or an organic solvent at 1-100 deg.C and optionally the solvent is removed to obtain dried powder, its extracted liquid or its extract. The obtained dried powder, its extracted liquid or its extract is used as it is or mixed and kneaded with a base for external preparation and, as necessary, mixed with other active components such as an analgesic antiinflammatory agent, an antibacterial disinfectant and vitamins and other additives such as humectant, ultraviolet absorber, alcohol, chelating agent, thickener, colorant, flavor, etc. The agent is especially preferably usable as an agent for improving the immunological function of skin lowered by the exposure to ultraviolet rays.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to an agent for improving reduced immune function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The skin plays a very important role immunologically. UV (UV), especially UVB (2
(90-320 nm), it has recently been revealed from an experimental system of contact hypersensitivity in mice that the immune function is reduced (Kripke, ML Photoch).
em. Photobiol. , 52, 919-92.
4, (1990) etc). The immunosuppressive action by ultraviolet rays includes a local immunosuppressive action limited to the irradiated skin (local immunosuppression) and a systemic immunosuppressive action (systemic immunosuppression) by a large amount of irradiation. Among them, it was revealed that the local immunosuppressive effect was classified into mice that received local immunosuppressive effect by UVB irradiation (UV sensitive) and mice that did not (UV resistant), depending on the genetic haplotype of the mouse. Regarding human UV sensitivity and UV resistance, for example, it has been reported that about 95% of skin cancer patients are UV-sensitive and about 60% of healthy persons are UV-resistant (Yoshi).
Ikawa, T .; et al. , J. et al. Invest.
Dermatol. , 97, 729-734, (199).
0)), suggesting that there is a correlation between skin cancer development and skin immune function.

[0003] It is said that various mediators are involved in such immunosuppressive action (Ullric).
h, S. E. FIG. , Photochem. Photobi
ol. , 62, 389-401, (1995) et.
c) Although a great deal of research has been conducted on them, no clear conclusions have yet been obtained on the mechanism of such immunosuppressive action. However, the immune response is extremely important from the viewpoint of host defense, and a decrease in immune function is undesirable for the living body. For this reason, substances that improve the reduced immune function are being studied, for example, aloe vera extract (Strikland, FM et al.,
J. Invest. Dermatol. , 102,1
97-204, (1994)), carnosine (Reev).
e, V. E. FIG. et al. , Immunology, 7
8, 99-104, (1993)) and the like.

[0004]

[0005] However, substances that improve such immune function are known to have percutaneous absorbability, stability, safety, and the like.
There was a problem with the price and the effect was not enough.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an immune function improving agent which is excellent in percutaneous absorbability, stability and safety, is inexpensive, and exhibits a sufficient effect for improving immune function.

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems In view of such circumstances, the present inventors diligently search for various plants, their extracts, and the like.
As a result of the study, it was found that plants such as peach and horse chestnut or an extract thereof had an effect of improving the immune function, and were excellent in percutaneous absorption, stability, safety, and inexpensive, and completed the present invention. I let it.

That is, the present invention provides an immune function improving agent characterized by containing a plant selected from the group consisting of peach, marronnier, loofah, and apricot, or an extract or extract thereof.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Peach, horse chestnut,
Loofah, apricot or an extract or extract thereof is generally used as an external preparation for skin, a cosmetic, a raw material, a base material, or an additive for pharmaceuticals. Some of these are known to have an anti-inflammatory effect, a hair-growth effect, and a whitening effect, but they have not been known to have an effect of improving a reduced immune function. The present invention has been completed for the first time by discovering that the above-mentioned plants have a reduced effect of improving immune function. In the present invention, a commercially available product may be used, or a naturally occurring product may be used.

The peach, horse chestnut, loofah,
Apricots can be whole plants, leaves, petiole, stems,
It may be a part of a plant such as a root or a seed, but in general, these can be dried and pulverized or extracted and used by a conventional method. For peaches and apricots, tonin and kyonin known as crude drugs or their extracts or extracts can be used. For the extraction, water, an organic solvent or a mixed solvent of water and an organic solvent can be used as a solvent, and the extraction is generally performed at 1 to 100 ° C. The organic solvent is not particularly limited, and for example, methanol, ethanol, n-butanol, 1,3-butylene glycol, acetone, ethyl acetate, ether, chloroform, benzene, n-hexane and the like can be used. Further, the solvent is removed from the extract by, for example, distillation under reduced pressure to obtain an extract. A commercially available product can be used as such a dry pulverized product or an extract or extract thereof.

The above-mentioned dried and pulverized product or its extract or extract may be used as it is as an immunological function improving agent. However, it is generally better to mix and knead with an external base material to obtain transdermal absorbability, safety and stability. It is advantageous in terms of properties and the like. The external base material is not particularly limited as long as it has percutaneous absorbability, safety, stability and the like. For example, an oily base, an aqueous base, and an oil / water type, water / oil type emulsification type base Any of the agents may be used. Examples of the oil base include vegetable oil, animal oil, higher fatty acid, higher alcohol, glyceride, phospholipid, glycolipid and the like. In general, these oily bases are melt-mixed, and further mixed with the dry pulverized product or the extract or extract thereof to obtain an immune function improving agent. The emulsifying base is generally obtained by mixing an oily substance, an aqueous substance, and an emulsifier, and further adding the above-mentioned dried and pulverized product or its extract or extract to obtain an immune function improving agent. In this case, the oily substance is generally used after being heated and melted. As the emulsifier, generally used cationic, anionic, nonionic and amphoteric emulsifiers can be used. When an aqueous base is used, an immune function improving agent is generally prepared by mixing an aqueous substance and the above-mentioned dried pulverized product extract or extract.

[0010] If necessary, such immunity improving agents include other medicinal ingredients such as analgesics and anti-inflammatory agents, germicidal disinfectants, vitamins, emollients, moisturizers, ultraviolet absorbers, alcohols,
Chelating agents, pH regulators, preservatives, thickeners, pigments, fragrances, and the like can be added. The form of the immunity improving agent is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include skin external preparations such as ointments, creams, emulsions, lotions, packs and the like. The content of the dried pulverized product extract or extract in such an immune function improving agent is generally 0.000 in terms of dry solids.
01 to 10% by weight, preferably 0.0001 to 5% by weight
It is.

The immunity improving agent according to the present invention is preferably used as an ameliorating agent for immune function reduced by ultraviolet rays, particularly preferably as an agent for improving immunity function of skin reduced by ultraviolet rays. Such an immune function improving agent is excellent in percutaneous absorbability, stability and safety, and is inexpensive.

[0012]

EXAMPLES Next, examples of the present invention will be described, but the present invention is not limited to the following examples.

<Example 1> Using mice, the effect of the immune function improving agent of the present invention on the reduction of immune function by ultraviolet irradiation was measured. 50 as an immune function improver
Liquid extracted from tonin using 1% ethanol (1% by weight in terms of dry solids, hereinafter referred to as “test substance 1”),
Extract extracted from horse chestnut seeds using 50% ethanol (1% by weight in terms of dry solids, hereinafter referred to as "test substance 2")
), An extract extracted from the aerial part of Luffa using 50% 1,3-butylene glycol (1 in terms of dry solids)
% By weight, hereinafter referred to as "test substance 3"), and an extract (1% by weight in terms of dry solids, hereinafter referred to as "test substance 4") extracted from Kyounin using 30% ethanol.

Seven to ten week old C3H / HeN male mice were divided into six groups, and the shaved abdomen of the mice of the first to fifth groups was continuously irradiated with 10 mJ / cm ² / day of ultraviolet light for 4 days. . Immediately after irradiation on the first, second, third, and fourth days, the test substance 1 was applied to the irradiation sites of the mice of the first to fourth groups, respectively.
４4 was applied at 25 μl / day. Nothing was applied to the irradiated sites of the mice in the fifth group. The sixth group was not irradiated with ultraviolet rays. One day after the end of the irradiation, 1-fluoro-2,4- at the irradiation site (in the mice of the sixth group, the abdomen substantially the same as the irradiation sites of the mice of the first to fifth groups)
Contact allergy sensitization with dinitrobenzen (DNFB) was performed. Further, 5 days after the sensitization, it was induced in both ears, and one day later, the swelling value of the both ears (the thickness of the pinna before the induction was subtracted from the thickness of the pinna one day after the induction) Was measured, and the recovery rate (%) of the contact allergic reaction was calculated by the following equation (1).

[0015]

(1) (ab) × 100 / (c−b) (1)

Here, a represents the value of pinna swelling in the first to fourth groups, b represents the value of pinna swelling in the fifth group, and c represents the value of pinna swelling in the sixth group. Table 1 shows the results.

[0017]

[Table 1]

From Table 1, it was confirmed that each of the immune function improving agents recovered the suppressed contact allergic reaction.

[0019]

Industrial Applicability According to the present invention, an inexpensive immunological function-improving agent having excellent transdermal absorbability, stability, and safety can be obtained. That is, although there were almost no immunological function improving agents excellent in the above-mentioned percutaneous absorbability, etc., by using a dry powder such as tounin or an extract or extract thereof, transdermal absorbability and the like and immunological function improving properties were improved. An excellent agent can be obtained.

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FI A61K 7/48 A61K 7/48

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An immune function improving agent comprising a plant selected from the group consisting of peach, marronnier, loofah, and apricot, or an extract or extract thereof. 2. An agent for improving an immune function reduced by ultraviolet light, comprising a plant selected from the group consisting of peach, marronnier, loofah, and apricot, or an extract or extract thereof. 3. An agent for improving skin immune function reduced by ultraviolet light, comprising a plant selected from the group consisting of peach, marronnier, luffa, and apricot, or an extract or extract thereof.