Aqueous extract of leaves of Moringa oleifera increased serum immunoglobulin G concentration in mice

Infectious diseases of public health importance such as tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, as well as immunodeficiency disorders, and cancers have strong associations to immune status of individuals. Therefore, drugs that modulate immune response can be beneficial in the prevention and management of these health disorders. This study was aimed at determining the effect of aqueous extract of leaves of Moringa oleifera on plasma IgG and total WBC count in mice. Twenty mice were divided into 5 groups of 4 animals per group. The groups (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) were given immunostimulatory drugs and extract orally as follows:  1 (extract 10 mg/kg); 2 (extract 20 mg/kg), 3 (leaf extract 40 mg/kg), 4 (levimasole 1 mg/kg); 5 (normal feeds only) all for 21days. Thereafter, sera from the mice were analysed for serum IgG and WBC count.  Data was analysed for statistical significance using analysis of variance (ANOVA) plus Bonferronis Multiple comparison. Mean values (± SD) of total WBC count (x 109 /L) were 9.65 ±3.35, 9.85 ±4.13, 9.00 ±1.31, 7.03 ±1.32 and 8.18 ±2.44 for groups 1,2,3,4,5 respectively while mean values (±SD) of serum IgG (µg/dl) were 1333.35±2205, 1072.00 ± 86.43, 1168 .90 ±77.83, 1420.23 ± 135.49 and 1665.88 ± 167.72 for groups 1, 2,3,4 and 5 respectively. P values for total WBC and serum IgG were 0.640 and 0.000 respectively (level of significance = 0.05). Oral administration of extract of leaves of Moringa oleifera significantly increased the serum concentration of IgG but did not increase the total WBC count in mice.