Korean mistletoe (Viscum album) extract has been found to posses immunostimulatory activity. In this study, Korean mistletoe extract, M11C (non-lectin components), was used to know whether this extract might activate mouse peritoneal macrophages to produce interleukin 1β(IL-1β).

Hemagglutination assay was carried out to examine whether M11C contained a lectin or not. To know the effect of M11C on the production of IL-1β, the macrophages were treated by the M11C, and then collected the supernatant (M11C stimulated macrophages-conditioned media; MMCM). MMCM was analyzed for the IL-1β quantification and mRNA expression by means of ELISA and RT-PCR, respectively.

Maximum effective dose and time of M11C on IL-1β production from macrophages were 20µg/ml and 8 hours, respectively. This ELISA data was reconfirmed by immunoblotting assay. indicating that M11C is a good candidate for an immunomodulator. The dose and time dependent effects of M11C on the expression of IL-1β mRNA from macrophages was also shown in expression of mRNA detected by RT-PCR. Treatment dose and time for the maximum expression of IL-1β mRNA were 20 µg/ml and 4 hours, respectively. Maximum gene expression of IL-1β was much earlier than maximum production of it.

As results, Korean mistletoe extract, M11C, may be used for an immunomodulator. This will be able to make up for and solve the problems caused by existent immunoagent with many adverse effects through many other studies in future including one molecule extraction.