Cytokine Response of CD4+ T-Lymphocytes with Red Rose (Rosa Rosaceae – Pierre de Ronsard) Extracts by in Vitro Evaluation

Background. Red rose extract is known to have anti-inflammatory and immune-modulation effects. In this study, the red rose extract was tested on CD4+T lymphocytes in vitro, and cytokine response was evaluated. Materials and Methods. The red rose (Rosa Rosaceae - Pierre de Ronsard) extract used in this study was prepared and stored at -20° C until use. CD4+T-cells were seeded in 96-well plates at 313,500 cells/well in 100μ l cell culture medium in duplicate. One-half of the wells were used for biomarker screening in the culture medium, and the other half was used for cytotoxicity assay. Twenty-four hours after plating, the cells were treated in duplicate with 100μ l of the red rose extract diluted at 0.5%, 0.1%, 0.05%, 0.01% and 0.005% (v/v) in the cell culture medium or with culture medium only as control for 72 hours. Some other wells were allocated for untreated cells, and cells treated with the rose extract at 0.005% for 48-h incubation time. Results. Several cytokines (GRO; IFN-γ; IL-1α, 6, 10; MCP-1; RANTES; TGF-β1; TIMP 1, 2; Ang1, Ang2; G-CSF; MMP-9; and VEGF R2) were elevated. Except for MMP-9, which had fold changes > 2, other cytokines were minimally elevated at various concentrations and timing of rose extract treatment. None of the mentioned cytokines were less than 0.8-fold after treatment with the rose extract. Cytotoxicity assay revealed insignificant changes in the viability of T-cells. Conclusions. There was a mild elevation in few inflammatory markers by CD4+ T-lymphocytes after in vitro treatment with the red rose extract (Rosa Rosacea - Pierre De Ronsard). Further in vitro and in vivo studies are required to evaluate the benefits of the red rose extract in immune regulation.