The Cellular Immune State of the 5/6 Nephrectomized Rats and Its Regulation by Chinese Medicines

Animal model of chronic renal failure （CRF） were induced in wistar rats by 5/6 nephrectomy, one third Of them treated with Cordyceps Sinensis （CS） in form of decoction per os, one third of them were treated with Epimedium sagittatum （Ep） and the others were served as control, It was found that the level of lymphocyte blastogenesis, the ability of splenocyte to produce IL-2 induced by PHA and the absorbency of spleen cells to exogenous IL-2 all decreased markedly in the 5/6 nephrectomized rats after 4 months. We also found that CS and Ep had mitogenic effect on spleen lymphocytes, and they could increase the production of IL-2 from splenocytes induced by PHA in the partial nephrectomized rats. CS and Ep showed therapatic effects on the CRF rats to decrease the levels of serum BUN and creatinine.