Co-administration of aqueous ginseng extract with tobramycin stimulates the pro-inflammatory response and promotes the killing of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the lungs of infected rats

Abstract

North American ginseng is known to have immunomodulatory and antipseudomonal properties in vitro. In this study we investigated the effects of aqueous ginseng extract, either alone or in a combination with the antibiotic tobramycin, in an animal model of chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa lung infection. The lungs of male rats (n = 5) were infected with P. aeruginosa (2 × 108 cfu/mL) in agar-beads by intratracheal instillation. Starting on day 7 post-infection, animals were treated daily for 3 consecutive days with saline, tobramycin (300 μg/kg body mass, intratracheal), and (or) ginseng (100 mg/kg body mass, subcutaneous); animals were sacrificed 24 h after the third drug treatment. Lung bacteria counts, cytokine levels in sera, and lung histopathology were examined. The treatment of infected animals with tobramycin [6.6 × 104 colony forming units (cfu)], ginseng (5.3 × 104 cfu), or tobramycin plus ginseng (2.0 × 103 cfu) lessened the lung infection compared with the control group (saline treated) (6.0 × 106 cfu). The levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-12p70, IFN-γ, GM-CSF, TNF-α) in infected animals were significantly increased with co-treatment of ginseng plus tobramycin. These data suggest that co-administration of aqueous ginseng extract and tobramycin stimulated the pro-inflammatory response and promoted the killing of P. aeruginosa.